All Bonds of Fellowship
by UnlimitedShadow
Summary: (Sequel to 'A day in the life') Riley and Maggie suddenly find themselves back in Middle-Earth but this time they're not alone and things have changed since their departure. Estel is now Aragorn and a grown man and how has their presence affected the war of the ring? ElrondxOC, EowynxOC, possibly EomerxOC
1. Old Friends

**Disclaimer**: I don't own anything except my own characters.

**Summary**: (Sequel to 'A day in the life') Riley and Maggie suddenly find themselves back in Middle-Earth but this time they're not alone and things have changed since their departure. Estel is now Aragorn and a grown man and how has their presence affected the war of the ring?

**A/N: **For those of you who wanted it, here is a sequel! It is going to be quite the long one, I've got lots of things planned but hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as the first one. For those of you who are new to this story it can be read as a stand alone but I suggest reading my prequel 'A day in the life'. Anyway, don't let me keep you, here is the first chapter!

Also, there will be swearing in this chapter; just a heads up! J

* * *

**One **

_Old Friends _

"We're sad you know. Here it is; first Friday of term start, practically everyone on campus are out and here we all are in our house doing work and playing scrabble."

"Correction," said Felix "You're doing work, we're playing scrabble and Nat and Maggie are out getting the takeout."

"Mate, 'skedaddle' isn't a proper word. How are you in Uni?" Riley said. It had started out as a simple friendly game quickly turned competitive. It was indeed a Friday night and they were sat in the lounge of the small house shared by Nat, Maggie and Felix not too far from campus.

"It counts as a word if you use it as a word," Felix protested "Speaking of Maggie, is she alright? She's been a bit quiet lately. Any idea why?" Yeah, Riley did know why but it wasn't exactly something that could just be brought up for discussion. Four months it had been since they got back from Middle-Earth, four months after having been there for a year. Life wasn't quite what it used to be and if anything it had brought the two cousins closer together than ever before.

"Riley? Hello? Earth to Riley?" Laura said and Felix waved his hands in front of his friend who snapped back out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, yeah Mags is fine, she's just got things on her mind."

"And apparently so do you. You two lately; honestly." The door unlocked and Felix could smell hot chicken korma curry; staying in had definitely been a good idea. Maggie and Natalie came inside both soaked through from the rain. They had all drawn sticks to decide who would go and get the food and they had lost.

"When did England turn into Wales?" Maggie asked "It's practically a monsoon out there!"

The five of them; Maggie, Riley, Natalie, Felix and Laura had been friends for a long time; by chance really. Their families in one way or another knew each other and even though it was two or so years between them they had been quite pleased when they found out they were all at the same university. Suddenly, a loud thunder squall seemed to almost shake the house.

"Geesh; Loki must've escaped and pissed off Thor." Natalie joked but then there was a second squall, much louder and a hell of a lot closer than the previous. Laura counted the seconds and when the next one after that came it was right about them and it cut out all the power in the house. The girls weren't the only ones that screamed because it came so unexpectedly.

"Okay, this cannot be normal." Felix said and Riley had to agree. Then suddenly there it was, as if out of nowhere; a bright white flash of light; which at first he assumed was lightning. However, next thing Riley knew he was lying outside somewhere where it was damp and cold.

"Riley will you get your bloody foot out of my face!" (**Natalie**)

"Yeah I will once someone helps me get the hell off Felix." (**Riley**)

"Let me just get out of this." (**Maggie**)

"Dude, you're fucking heavy!" (**Felix**)

"I'm sorry but you guys aren't the ones with two football players lying all over you." (**Laura**) It took the five of them a good few minutes to get themselves sorted and up on their feet. Riley, Maggie, Felix, Natalie and Laura were all equally dirty and all equally confused as to what had just happened – and so were the four unfamiliar faces staring right back at them.

"I swear, this is a déjà vu all over again." Riley said, mostly to Maggie as he was referring to his arrival in Middle-Earth when he had first encountered Elladan and Elrohir. But then he looked up and when he managed to wrap his head around his surroundings it all seemed too familiar and as did the face of the man in front of them. It was unmistakable really, Riley thought, he knew Middle-Earth when he saw it and the three shorter ones were without a doubt hobbits.

* * *

Aragorn thought for a moment that surely his eyes must be deceiving him for the woman standing in front of him could not be the very same Maggie and Riley whom had lived with him in Imladris as a child. Was it really the very same whom had rescued him from orcs and watched over him when he was ill? The same Maggie who had fallen in love with his foster father, Lord Elrond.

"Estel?"

"By the Valar, tell me this isn't some foul trick played on my mind." How could they not have aged a single day while he had grown an old man, now 87 years old?

"Oh my god it is you!" Maggie threw her arms around him and Aragorn embraced her heartily. To him, Maggie was equally his sister as much as Elladan and Elrohir were his brothers. Aragorn then turned around to Riley whom in his usual manner stood with arms crossed, pretending to be unimpressed.

"What? I'm not getting a hug? Dude, I practically babysat you for the better part of a year."

Aragorn smiled and then greeted him with an equally warm hug. It was good, thought the ranger, to see his friends again. But then he became curious as to why they were there now.

"I can't believe it's really you and that we're really back?" Then Maggie took a closer look at their surroundings which essentially was in the middle of nowhere and then at four hobbits in their company. "And…what the hell are you doing out here?"

"I'm taking these hobbits to Rivendell. Middle-Earth has changed since last time you were here. Frodo, the fourth hobbit, has been given a dangerous task and was wounded on Weathertop. He has been taken to Rivendell for healing; I'm to see they get there safely." _Whoa, reality check_, thought Maggie, _it must be the war of the ring._ But then at the mention of Rivendell which was someplace she was glad to call her home, her face lit up and she turned to Riley.

"So, not to break up this whole reunion thing, but uhm, is anyone going to tell us exactly what the _fuck_ is going on?" It was Laura who'd spoke up. For a moment, both Riley and Maggie had forgotten their three friends were with them.

"And who, prey tell, are your friends?"

"Yeah, that's kind of a long story."

* * *

"Okay, let me get this straight." Felix said. Aragorn had decided that they could all explain everything whilst walking. So Maggie and Riley had told them the story of how they had arrived in Rivendell the first time and of their adventures there and then how they had come to be there now. "A few months ago, you two went hiking in Wales and then somehow ended up in Middle-Earth where you lived in Rivendell for nearly a year with that one (he was pointing at Aragorn), when he was six years old?"

"Pretty much yeah." Maggie said

"Okay, I love you guys to bits but you're both clinically insane. There's no such thing as Middle-Earth."

"Of course Middle-Earth is real," said Sam, who wasn't sure he understood anything of what was happening at that moment. "We're all here aren't we? I know I'm real." he was worried about Frodo and wished they would hurry about and get to the elves already.

"Felix, calm down mate." Riley told his friend "I know this is a lot to wrap your head around, trust me first time around I didn't believe it either and I woke up to Elladan and Elrohir with a sword at my throat. This is just Estel…I mean Aragorn. That's gonna get confusing."

"Estel?" Merry said questioningly and looked at Aragorn

"It was my name in Rivendell as a child."

"Okay," Natalie said "So let's just say this is all real and not some extremely, very bizarre dream we're all having at the same time, how did we get here?"

"That is something I also wish to know. Last time you two were here, it was for a reason. I have no doubt in my mind that this time is no different but, you will find that things have not stayed the same. Nor people."

"How long has it been and you know, how old are _you_?" Maggie asked, almost fearing the answer.

"It has been 81 years since you; I turned 87 some weeks ago."

At this remark, Felix passed out.

"This is gonna be a _long_ day." Laura said

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_There it, the first chapter! They're all back! Yay? Nay? Love it? Like it? Hate it? Let me know by leaving a lovely little review! _**


	2. Reunited and Rekindled

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N: **Not much to say about this chapter, it's pretty straight forward so I hope you enjoy it J

**_Two _**

_Reunited and Rekindled _

**XXXXXX**

_81 years_, Maggie thought as she looked out over the view that was the Hidden Valley, _he hasn't seen me in 81 years_. . It hadn't been that long for her and it made her anxious and she wondered if perhaps he had forgotten her and maybe with that forgotten his feelings for her. What right did she have to just ask him to take her back? After all, she had chosen to leave. They'd been walking for hours and the weather hadn't exactly been on their side with rain and cold. By the time they got to Rivendell it was nightfall and the stars had come out. Riley had almost forgotten how beautiful the Middle-Earth sky was. Most of the hike had been spent trying to convince Felix that none of them were insane and finally, after a while, he gave in to it. Aragorn had then told them his part in it all and the hobbits had filled in with their story about Frodo. Rivendell hadn't changed, Maggie thought, the city was still as beautiful as ever

"He's never forgotten you." Aragorn said as though he had been reading her mind "You have to remember that for an elf a century is no time at all."

"It's just a lot to take in. I mean, Jesus, I used to sing you to sleep with lullabies and play hide and seek with you in the gardens."

"I remember one of those lullabies; about ships sailing into the west. Even after you had gone Elrond would sing it to me because it would be the only thing that kept me from crying."

"Yeah…I'm sorry."

"It isn't your fault. You had to go home, you had no choice. You're here now aren't you? That's what matters and it looks as though we're expected." Aragorn referred to the Elf walking down the stairs to meet them. It was a face both Riley and Maggie recognised and it brought a smile to their faces.

"Elladan!" Riley called out. Elladan stopped for a moment and looked at the company in front of him. He knew they were to expect Aragorn and the hobbits because Frodo was already there. He had not expected to see his old friends again. _It cannot be, _he thought

"I must be dreaming, this cannot be!"

"You best believe it 'Dan. I was quite surprised myself." Aragorn said with a grin on his face.

"Yeah, so were we." Riley agreed

"It's wonderful to see you again my brother!" Elladan said and hugged Riley. Maggie practically threw her arms around Elladan who spun her around and then hugged her as heartily as Aragorn had.

"I've missed you so much!" Maggie whispered

"And I, you." he replied "_Adar_ will be so happy to see you."

"Speaking of him, here is he and where is Elrohir?"

"Elrohir is actually in Lorien, which is a bit of a long story. I shall fill you in later."

"So," said Natalie as stood with her arms crossed between Laura and Felix. Felix still seemed a bit faint about it all whilst Laura remained calm. The three hobbits, Merry, Pippin and Sam, didn't seem to quite know what to do and neither of them wanted to interrupt the reunion. "Am I the only one feeling a little left out here?"

"Nat, I'm still having trouble _breathing_." Felix replied

"You know," said Pippin "Sometimes, in situations like these, I find a bit of Old Toby always helps." Before Laura could ask the question Merry shook his head in disapproval.

"I don't think this one of those times Pip."

**XXXXXXX**

After a while Elladan was introduced to Felix, Natalie and Laura so well as the hobbits and they were taken through Rivendell where he showed them to their different quarters. The hobbits were all anxious to find Frodo so after a little while they left to go see him. Natalie, Laura and Felix wanted some time to settle in and just take it all in which was fair enough and good timing because it gave Riley and Maggie the chance to talk.

"Can you believe how much things have changed?" asked Maggie. They hadn't had much chance to speak to Elladan because he had other things to attend to.

"I know, I can't believe Estel…I mean Aragorn is older than we are! That's gonna take some getting used to," Riley replied

"That definitely puts things in perspective. Do you think us being here maybe changed things, you know, in the timeline. What with the Fellowship and everything."

It was a good question and at the same time it wasn't really something Riley wanted to dwell on much. Some things you were probably better off not knowing. "I was wondering the same thing. I guess we'll have to wait and find out. You on the other hand missy, you had better go because I can think of at least one person who is waiting for you." Maggie grinned widely and started walking off but then she quickly turned around to her cousin again. "I'm so glad we're back Ri." she told him

"Yeah, so am I." said Riley and when Maggie had left him he let out a sigh of relief as he leant against the balcony looking out over the city. _So am I, _he thought.

**XXXXXXX**

"Middle-Earth huh? I'll be damned,"

"It kind of explains a lot though; why Maggie's been acting so off lately and why Riley won't really speak about it." Laura, Felix and Nat were all sat in Nat's bed chamber, which she could not believe the size of, talking things through. Sleeping seemed impossible as they were all still too wired up.

"I'm still not sure I understand what's going on." said Laura "You're forgetting I haven't read or seen Lord of the Rings. I never got the big deal with it."

There was a knock on the door and Riley came inside. "And just where have you been?" Laura asked

"Chill out Mrs Weasly," Riley teased as he sat himself down on the floor next to Felix. "If you must know I've been out having a chat with Elladan. Do you have any idea of what's happening tomorrow?"

Felix shrugged "You got me, but do tell."

"Tomorrow is the Council of Elrond. You know the meeting where they decide what's going to happen with the ring."

"Shit, we've got here in perfect timing. Don't suppose there's any chance we could listen in on it?"

"Actually," Riley replied "Maggie and I have been asked to join." Elladan had explained everything to him a short while earlier. People had been arriving throughout the day and some would arrive in the early hours of the morning to attend the council and given the current circumstances, Riley and Maggie had been asked to participate.

"Why do you get to join when we don't?" Felix asked

"I guess because, well, we're family."

Nat had been sat in silence for while with a warm cup of tea in her hands until she finally spoke.

"Why do you call him Estel?"

"That's what the elves call him, it means 'hope'." Riley explained "It was the name he grew up with here in Rivendell. Nobody ever called him Aragorn until much later."

"I still can't believe it, all that time and we never knew."

"Would you really have believed us even if we told you?" They all agreed it was a fair enough point. It wasn't something you really brought up in any conversation.

"Anyway," Felix said after a while "Where's Maggie?"

"Oh," Riley was grinning widely now "Maggie's sleeping somewhere else tonight."

**XXXXXXX**

It took ages until Maggie actually gained enough courage to walk through the halls until she reached the room that was Elrond's study. Of course, once she was outside it took her another good few minutes to get herself together. She was nervous because she wasn't sure what to expect. Would he be happy to see her? Had he moved on? She didn't know and the thought of that petrified her. Finally, after convincing herself it would be alright, Maggie raised her hand and knocked on the door.

"Enter," said Elrond's familiar voice from inside.

_Here goes nothing, _Maggie thought as she opened the door. It was a familiar sight, Elrond was sat by his desk writing down something on a parchment and appeared to be incredibly focused. Maggie smiled and suddenly she wasn't nervous anymore.

"Some things don't change do they?"

**XXXXXXX**

_I know that voice, _Elrond looked up from his desk and the sight in front of him was unmistakable. The Elf-lord stood up and was silent a few moments and just looked at Maggie until he walked up to her. He ran his hand through her long, auburn hair and for a while they stood there looking at each other until he kissed her. It was a kiss like no other and if Maggie had ever wondered what passion felt like, that would be it.

"I've been waiting for you," said Elrond after they finally broke off the kiss "I just wasn't certain when you would be back."

"Yeah well….wait what?!" Maggie pulled away from Elrond "You knew?! You _knew_ we'd be back and you didn't deem it wise to tell me?!"

"Yes I knew. You forget I have the gift of foresight. If I told you it would have prevented you from living your life. All you would have done is waited and my heart would not be able to bear that."

"So what, you decided to forget about me for 81 years is that it?" Maggie hadn't realised that by now she was crying and Elrond sat down by her and wiped the tears from her cheek. The shock and realisation of it all, of actually being back had started to get to her.

"No _melemin_, I never forgot about you. Not a day went by when I didn't think about you. I wanted so badly to be with you again; to hold you (he kissed her on the cheek), to kiss you (he kissed her on the lips), to make love to you again." As Elrond said the last word he kissed Maggie on her neck and she suddenly forgot she was upset. The Elf-lord then picked her up and then carried her out of the study.

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

**_There's a lot dialogue in this and things that needed to be got out of the way but hopefully you'll like it anyway! Please review and tell me what you thought!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **As always, I don't own anything except my characters.

**A/N**: Lots of things happening in this chapter, the first three or so are always a bit dull but it'll get better J Here's the next chapter which I hope you'll enjoy!

**_Three_**

**XXXXXXX**

In the morning, just before the council was about to begin, Maggie and Riley had already left which gave Felix, Nat and Laura so well as the hobbits time to scheme. It wasn't too difficult really, they all wanted to hear what everything was about and naturally hiding somewhere nearby became the obvious choice. Pippin thought it was all quite exciting really.

"Okay so we all agree on this?" Nat asked

"Yes, now come on or we're going to miss it." Felix replied

**XXXXXXX**

Maggie and Riley both realised how little of Middle-Earth they had actually seen during their stay. They knew of dwarves but obviously they had never seen one and at least Riley tried his best not to stare. A small group of elves had arrived and with the Legolas and as the others he was surprised to see Maggie and Riley there but it wasn't really the time or place to bring it up.

"Strangers of distant lands, friends of old, you have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor." said Elrond. "Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall."

Riley leant towards Maggie and whispered so that only she could hear it. "You remember Professor Hutchinson's infamous Classics 101 lectures? I have a feeling this is going to be a bit like it." Maggie didn't reply, instead she turned her glance to Frodo who was sat right opposite her. He was carrying the ring around his neck and for a moment their eyes made but were both interrupted by Elrond's voice.

"Bring forth the ring Frodo."

**XXXXXXX**

"I can't really see anything, Felix, you're in my way." Laura, Pippin, Merry, Felix, Nat and Sam were all hiding not too far away behind a set of bushes, trying to listen in on the meeting. It was the only place close enough where they could all be hidden and still see decently but admittedly, it got a little crowded.

"Shut up or they'll hear us." Natalie hissed "The fact that we all fit here, is a miracle." They listened in to the conversation. An argument had broken out between Boromir and Aragorn but it quickly subsided, Maggie was sat next to Lord Elrond and next to her was Riley.

"What's with the ring? I mean obviously, I get that it's evil but, it's a ring." Laura whispered

"Well," said Sam "It was old Bilbo's ring to begin with but then he gave it to Mr. Frodo after he left the Shire. Then Gandalf came back and told Frodo the ring wasn't safe and that he had to take it out of the Shire, that's where I come in, Gandalf asked me to keep Frodo safe on the road."

"That's when they met us." Merry added, referring to Farmer Maggot's crops and smiled at the thought of the mushrooms.

"Ssh," Felix hushed "You're missing the good bits." Another argument had broken out and this time it wasn't just between Boromir and Aragorn but everyone were arguing amongst each other until Frodo's voice spoke up.

"I will take it! I will take the ring to Mordor."

**XXXXXXX**

Nobody said a word and all eyes were on Frodo. Riley on the other hand, turned his attention to the small golden ring. It was in a way, enchanting and some part of him could swear he heard it whispering. Riley snapped out of his thoughts when Frodo spoke again.

"Though," said the hobbit "I do not know the way."

"I will help you bear this burden Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear." said Gandalf

"If by my life, will or death I can protect you, I will," said Aragorn and knelt down in front of Frodo "You have my sword,"

Maggie looked up at Elrond. "Seriously, how is he 87? I still feel like I need to protect him." she whispered at which the Elf-lord smiled. Both Legolas and Gimli had offered Frodo their allegiance in the quest and even Boromir. Frodo seemed a bit surprised, as if he hadn't expected it. Riley had sat in silence for long while thinking and the more he thought the more he felt like something told him he ought to go with Frodo. He couldn't explain it but he had given up on trying to explain things he could not understand a long time ago.

"I'll go with you," he said "I have some skill with a sword and with battle."

"So will I," Maggie said

At this, Riley raised an eyebrow in scepticism. "No. There is no way you're coming along! It's way too dangerous!"

"The hell I won't! Excuse me, who was it that singlehandedly rescued Aragorn from orcs when he was six years old!"

"Indeed you did," said Elrond "Of course then we also rescued _you_ with horses, if memory serves." he added with that familiar somewhat sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Okay, you're not helping and you're supposed to be on my side anyway!"

"_Melemin_, I am always on your side I just think perhaps you need not jump to conclusions. Riley is trying to keep you save and that is very much my wish too."

"Thank you Lord Elrond." said Riley, triumphantly.

"Melemin?" whispered Frodo to Gandalf "Isn't that Elvish for 'my love'" he asked curiously

"It is indeed my dear Frodo. Lord Elrond and Lady Margaret are lovers you see. They've been through a great deal together."

"But, she's human and not from this world. I don't understand."

"_Adar_, if I may speak." Elladan who had been sitting at his father's side silent for most of the meeting now spoke. "Is it not true that last time Maggie and Riley were here it was for a reason? Well, maybe this time this is the reason. Maybe they're supposed to help with this quest. _Adar_, you and I know that they are both very capable of it." Elladan was right of course and Elrond couldn't argue with that, especially when he knew what Galadriel had told him before.

"Very well," said the Elf-lord admitting defeat

"Hey!" It was Sam who had suddenly jumped out of a bush which had caught everyone off guard. "Mr Frodo's not going anywhere without me!"

"Well no, it is hardly possible to separate you two even when he is summoned to a secret meeting and you are not." Elrond replied. The other five now fell out from their hiding place and Riley just rolled his eyes.

"We're going too!" said Merry

"Yeah, you're not leaving us behind! Anyway, we heard what you said about us being meant to be here and that has to include the three of us too."

"Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission, quest…thing."

"Well that rules you out Pip." Merry said

"14 companions; so be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

"Great!" Pippin exclaimed enthusiastically "Where are we going?"

**XXXXXXX**

The council had taken forever and it was late in the afternoon when it was finally done. Maggie had gone to find her friends (she had stayed behind to speak to Legolas) when she suddenly found herself running into Arwen. At the time when Maggie and Riley had been lived in Rivendell Arwen had lived in Lothlorien and they had never met before. Maggie imagined that she must have heard quite a few stories after she had come back.

"Lady Arwen," said Maggie and curtseyed" I'm glad to finally meet you."

"Finally? I've heard so much about you I feel like I have known you forever. We are already like sisters!" Arwen replied happily and hugged her. _In a non –creepy, I'm seeing your dad sort of way o course, _Maggie thought but smiled nonetheless. Arwen was incredibly beautiful and Maggie could see a bit of Lord Elrond in her as well.

"We must speak more some time, my father and my brothers have told me so much about you but I have to go and find—"

"You have to find Aragorn. I know and I have to find my friends as well and explain a few things. We leave tomorrow and well, things have been a little hectic."

"Well, if I will not see you, _Namarie_ and keep safe." (Farewell)

**XXXXXXX**

"You're sleeping with Lord Elrond?!" It was the first thing Laura said to Maggie when she walked into the bedroom, this time it was Riley's. She guessed that Riley had probably filled them in on the details and they were her friends so she didn't really mind.

"It's not that big of a deal." she said as she sat down.

"Yes it is!" Laura countered. "He's pretty damned sexy."

"Then again they all are," Natalie agreed. "I mean, did you _see_ Legolas?" After the council, Nat, Felix and Laura had been introduced to the fellowship as well as Lord Elrond and Elladan.

"Nat, we _all_ saw Legolas; _you_ were the only one who squealed." Felix teased at which Natalie blushed because it was true. They all laughed and in her head Maggie heard a familiar voice speaking to her. _When you're ready, come and find me, _Elrond told her.

**XXXXXXX**

Maggie sneaked off a short while later to find Elrond in a somewhat secluded section of the gardens.

"I met Arwen" she said "She's lovely. One of these days you're gonna have to tell me what I've missed out on." Elrond didn't reply to that and seemed to be deep in thought about something.

"I know that look," she said and put her arms around him. "It means something is on your mind. What is it?" Elrond sat down on one of the benches and then took Maggie's hands. She was beautiful and she was wearing the necklace he had given her, the star of Enwin, when she had left Middle-Earth. Even for him it was a bit strange that so little time had passed for her while nearly a century had passed for him. He was silent for a while until he spoke again.

"I cannot stop you from joining the fellowship, not even I have the power to change fate but I can say this. When you come back, I want to marry you. Too long have I waited and my heart could not bear the thought to of losing you again." Maggie could not believe her ears and stood there, utterly flabbergasted and just stared at Elrond. No words she thought of seemed quite right.

"You're…..you're asking me to marry you?" she stammered

"Yes, if you will have me." Elrond replied

"Of course I'll have you! I want nothing more than to marry you!" Elrond pulled Maggie down onto his lap and pulled her in for a long, passionate kiss and as they kissed Maggie could feel him smiling.

And so was she.

**XXXXXXX**

Too soon morning came and it was time for the fellowship to depart. They were gathered by the entrance to Rivendell where Elrond wished them luck on their travels and his eyes met Maggie. They walked onwards and as the others walked ahead Gandalf stopped in front of Maggie, Nat, Riley, Laura and Felix and looked at them.

"The five of you, you know things," said the wizard "I can see it in your eyes. But hear this; it would be wise to keep such knowledge amongst yourselves and tell no one." he said and then walked up to at the Frodo at the front.

"Gandalf, which way is Mordor, left or right." Frodo asked

"Left,"

And so their journey was begun.

**_To be continued….._**


	4. Over Sea, Under Stone

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the reviews, I wasn't sure people would like this or not. I'm trying to make it a little different

**_Four _**

_Over sea, Under Stone _

**XXXXXXX**

"Hey," Laura sat herself down next to Frodo. They'd been walking for what seemed like forever and Laura's Converse sneakers really weren't exactly made for the Middle-Earth terrain. It was late in the afternoon when they had decided to finally have a break on a hilltop where Merry, Felix and Pippin were taking combat lessons from Boromir "I haven't really introduced myself, I'm Laura and you're Frodo right." she said

"Yes," Frodo replied with a nod "It's a pleasure to meet you."

**XXXXXXX**

"Who are they Aragorn?" Gimli asked. The dwarf had seen many things in his day, but when he had set out for Rivendell, this was not quite what he had expected. "Lord Elrond spoke of different worlds and then she (he referred to Maggie) said she rescued you from orcs. What was that about?"

Aragorn smiled as he lit his pipe and then thought back on the memory all those years ago and the night when a very young Estel had decided to go off hunting for orcs to prove to his father that he could be brave like his brothers. "Once when I was little I was captured by orcs, the some ones that killed my father. Maggie went out to search for me alone, unarmed and untrained in combat. She found me but they also found her and she endured torture to make sure no harm came to me. She brought me back home safely and I've never forgotten it. I owe those two my life as much as I owe Frodo my allegiance." he explained as the scenes played over in his memory.

"How old were you?"

"I was six year old."

"Impossible! That would make them a great deal older than me and they are neither of elf nor Dunedain kin!" said Gimli in disbelief

"There are great forces in this world than you know Master Dwarf; you best get used to it."

**XXXXXXX**

_When you come back, I want to marry you. _Lord Elrond's voice echoed over and over in Maggie's mind and she still couldn't believe it herself. She was going to marry the Lord of Elrond and all of that meant only one thing: she had to stay in Middle-Earth. She looked at her friends, Laura who was chatting with Frodo and Sam; Riley who was having a laugh at Felix and the hobbits and then Natalie who was in conversation with Legolas. When all of this was over, she would have to leave them behind. In reality, to her it had always been the obvious choice because Middle-Earth was her home but she wasn't sure she dared saying anything to the others just yet. It could wait, it had to.

"I'd say we're taking the long way around. Gandalf, we could pass through the mines of Moria, my cousin Balin would give us a warm welcome."

"No Gimli," said the wizard "I would not go through Moria unless I had no other choice."

"What the hell is that?" Riley asked

"Nothing, it's just a bit of cloud."

"It's moving fast and against the wind." said Boromir

"Yeah, way to point out the obvious Sherlock."

"Crebain," said Legolas in an alarmed voice. His eyes could see far better than anybody else's and he did not like what was coming towards them. "From Dunland!"

"Hide!" Aragorn called out and it only took a mere few seconds until they all had taken cover under what little space there was. The flock of birds, or whatever the hell they were passed by quickly and were soon out of sight but the fellowship still remained hidden until it the coast was truly clear.

"What were those?" Laura asked. She was beginning to feel afraid. She hadn't done much traveling before, except for family holidays to the Isle of Wight and one to the Canary Islands on her 16th birthday so the whole concept of being in a whole different universe was still a bit to take in.

"Spies of Saruman, the passage south is being watched," Gandalf replied as he looked up at the sky mumbling something only audible to himself. "We must take the pass of Caradhras."

**XXXXXXX**

"If there's something I hate more than I hate rain, it's snow. It is wet, it's cold and it's deceitful." Maggie whined. She was practically up to her waist in snow and she was beginning to feel that even the elven cloak she was carrying wouldn't be enough to keep her warm. "And let me tell you something else, these shoes definitely ain't made for walking."

"I've never heard anyone describe snow as deceitful before." said Boromir with a chuckle. Something suddenly shook beneath them or maybe even all around them, it was difficult to tell and Felix could swear he heard a voice speaking but he couldn't make out exactly what it said.

"It's Saruman!" Gandalf shouted

"He's trying to bring down the mountain! Gandalf, we must get off!" Aragorn replied.

"We cannot pass over the mountain!" said Gimli "We must go _under_ it. Gandalf; let us go through the mines of Moria."

"Well whatever you decide, do it fast." said Felix "We don't exactly have a hell of a lot of time."

"Let the ringbearer decide."

**XXXXXXX**

"_Adar,_" Elrond turned around when he heard Arwen's voice. His mind was on the Fellowship and on Maggie. Having them there had changed things now and as he looked at Arwen he knew he could no longer tell her to leave Middle-Earth. He was well aware of what she felt for Aragorn and he knew that because he had asked Maggie to marry him, he had no right to tell Arwen that she could give her heart to Aragorn. Arwen looked at her father and knew what he was thinking; one did not really need the gift of foresight for that. She took her father's hands and sat down next to him.

"I know the thoughts that trouble you, but _Adar_, I love him as deeply as you love her. Maybe now you understand."

**XXXXXXX**

"Bah, it's hopeless!" Gandalf muttered as he sat down on a rock. For the past 45 or so minutes the wizard had desperately tried to open the door which was the entrance to Moria but with no luck at all. None of the spells had worked and it was getting darker outside by the minute.

"Wizard huh?" Nat whispered to Maggie who just shrugged.

"Wait a minute….it's a riddle." said Frodo who now stood up. "'Speak friend and enter' What's the Elvish word for friend?"

"_Mellon_." said both Maggie and Gandalf at the same time.

"You speak Elvish?" Laura asked and raised an eyebrow at Maggie.

"It's a very long story." Maggie replied and glanced at Legolas who gave her a smile in reply. As Riley looked up at the entrance to Moria he was honestly beginning to feel a little nervous and breathed heavily. He didn't like small spaces, not that Moria was necessarily small but it was dark and it was underground and didn't exactly help. Natalie put a comforting arm around Riley and the fellowship, one by one walked into the darkness that was Moria. What happened in the next few seconds went by so quickly Felix couldn't quite recall it all. Something happened when they were inside, long tentacles grabbed Frodo and tried to pull him out back into the water.

"Hold on Frodo!" Legolas shot an arrow right through the creature, which Maggie thought looked a bit like Cthulhu but she kept that bit to herself. Aragorn and Boromir were both able to cut off the creature's tentacles and in its own defence it smashed down the rocks which left the fellowship standing in the darkness but Frodo was safe.

"We now have but one choice," said Gandalf as his staff lit up their way. It was amazing, Laura thought, and incredibly beautiful in a strange way. They were standing right in the middle of one long hallway with gigantic stone pillars around them. "We must face the long dark of Moria. Be on your guard, there are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world."

"Oh that's comforting." said Riley, not hiding his sarcasm.

"You alright mate?" Felix asked

"Oh I'm fabulous; this right here, my idea of fun."

"You don't like this?" Legolas asked, stating the obvious. "Being underground, I mean. You're nervous."

"No; that would be claustrophobia for you 'Las. I don't deal so well with this and small, enclosed places."

"Quietly now," Gandalf warned them. He was more than unhappy about being here but they couldn't exactly turn back around so in the end this was the lesser of two evils. "It's a four day journey to the other side. Let us hope our presence goes by unnoticed."

"Four days? Bloody fantastic! Kill me now, why don't you?" But Riley was going to have to suck it up and continue walking because things were about to get a whole lot worse.

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_I'm sorry it's not a very interesting chapter but I'm going to try and make the next ones fun because in the film we never actually really see all four days in Moria J I hope you'll leave a review anyway! _**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Nothing is mine except my own characters. The rest belongs to the fantastic J.R.R Tolkien.

**A/N: **Hello and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a fabulous new year's eve! To celebrate the start of 2013 I am going to give you an extra (and I mean really) long chapter with lots of things revealed! Isn't that grand? I hope you like it

_**Five**_

**XXXXXXX**

"You're hiding something, I can tell."

"Oh am I now?" Aragorn sat down next to Maggie and took the pendant necklace in her hand. They had been traveling for a three days and were now waiting for Gandalf to remember the path they were going to take.

"That is the Star of Enwin; Lord Elrond gave it to you before you left." Maggie knew it was pointless to hide anything from Aragorn because he knew anyway and quite frankly she trued him to keep a secret and it would make her feel a little better about not keeping it all to herself.

"If I tell you, you have to promise not to tell the others because I don't know how they'll react." she said

"You have my word. Always."

Maggie breathed. "Okay, here goes. He, uhm, he asked me marry him." she whispered

"What did you say?"

"I told him yes. Aragorn, I can't live without him. I can't explain it but I feel a bit like he is a…."

"….like he is a part of you. This is wonderful news." Aragorn hugged Maggie but when he looked at her again he could see there was something else. "But you have not told your friends."

Maggie shook her head. "I can't. Not yet. I mean, marrying him means I have to stay here, in Middle-Earth and I can't tell them that. Not with everything that's going on. Besides, we have far more important things to worry about." It was a fair enough point Aragorn thought and it wasn't a particularly easy choice to make on her side. "Yes but you will have to tell them eventually, these are _good_ news. I am very happy for you." said the ranger and kissed her forehead.

"Ah! That's it! That way!" Gandalf called out

"He's remembered!" said Merry

"Thank God," Riley couldn't be more relieved. If it weren't for the fact that Moria was pretty spacious he would have had a proper panic attack a long time ago.

"No," said Gandalf "But there air doesn't smell so foul down there. If in doubt Meriadoc, always follow your nose."

"Behold, the great dwarf city of Dwarrowdelf." said Gandalf as he lit up the massive dwarf city. Maggie had to admit that it was rather breathtakingly as she looked up at the different levels above her.

"Well, wouldn't that be a cover photo for Facebook?" said Natalie. Gandalf lead the way through the halls of the city, all of them awestruck by their surroundings.

"Oh bugger it!"

"What?" Laura asked and turned to Maggie.

"I just remembered I left my iPod back in Rivendell. It still has some batteries in it."

"Ah, don't you fret my dear Margaret." said Felix as he reached into one of his pouches and pulled out his mobile phone. The pure screams of joy by Maggie, Laura and Natalie made Boromir jump a little but they quickly quieted down when Gandalf shot them a very stern 'be silent' look. They walked on for a few minute's until something seemed to have caught Gimli's attention. The dwarf stopped in his steps and appeared to be confused as first, like he wasn't sure what to think. That's when Riley realised and saw the piles of crushed skeletons in the room and then a mortified Gimli running in through doors, sobbing loudly.

"NO!"

"Gimli!"

"Oh my god…." Laura whispered and grabbed Felix's arm. "What…" she looked around herself and wasn't sure what to think or what to say. She stepped on something beneath her that cracked and as she looked down it was another bone. Gandalf had walked up the stone altar in the middle and opened up the book that lay there.

"_'Here lies Balin, son of Fudin, Lord of Moria'_. He is dead, then. It's as I had feared.'" he read which made everyone feel more than a little uncomfortable.

"We must move on." Legolas whispered "We cannot linger here."

Gandalf didn't reply, he just continued reading. "_They have taken the Bridge and the second hall: we have barred the gates...but cannot hold them for long...the ground shakes...drums in the deep...we cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. Will no- one save us? They are coming_."

"'They'? Who the hell are 'they'?" Natalie asked

A sudden noise made them all jump and all eyes turned to Pippin and the young hobbit looked exceptionally guilty. He'd been standing by what looked like a well and accidentally pushed in an old suit of armour.

"Fool of a Took!" yelled the wizard "Throw yourself in next time and rid us of your stupidity!"

"Uhm, not to make it worse but, Frodo's blade is glowing." Riley pointed out and Frodo pulled out sting which was glowing bright blue.

"Yeah what does that mean?" Laura asked

"Orcs!" replied Legolas

**XXXXXXX**

It wasn't so much orcs as goblins but they had come from out of nowhere and it was impossible to count how many they were but Felix had to guess there were dozens of them. Maybe even more. They burst through the doors which caught everyone off guard and then came the next thing; loud and heavy footsteps that clearly belonged to something a hell of a lot of bigger than anyone or anything else in that room.

"_What_ was that?" Felix asked nervously

"Oh. They have a cave troll." Boromir replied sarcastically to Aragorn and Riley who were holding back the second door but soon decided it was pointless because neither of them wanted to be crushed by the troll. _Troll, _Laura thought, _I don't know why I didn't see that one coming? _

Maggie froze for a moment as she stared into the eyes of one of the goblins. Brief flashbacks hit her and memories of being captured by orcs had her almost paralyzed until Riley pulled her aside and she snapped out of it.

"Maggie, Jesus, use your blade." he told her and Maggie suddenly remembered that they had been given weapons before their departure in Rivendell.

**XXXXXXX**

Natalie struggled in combat; she honestly didn't know a single thing about sword fighting and her sword was more the size of a large knife anyway. She'd seen a little of what Boromir had taught Felix and the hobbit but it could only get her so far and quite frankly, she was scared senseless. _I don't belong here, _Nat thought; _I wish I was back home. _She wasn't supposed to fight battles in some universe she didn't even know existed. As far as Nat was concerned, she was supposed to be back in her room at university eating takeout with her friends. However, she didn't have time to think more about home because when Nat turned around she found herself staring right in the face with a crossbow aimed right at her. Suddenly, the goblin squealed and fell dead before her feat and Nat saw Boromir in front of her.

"Are you alright?" he asked

"Yeah. Thanks." Nat replied

"Remind me to give you lessons in sword fighting."

"How about starting now?" At that remark Boromir cut off the head of a goblin passing by and when he turned back to Nat he nodded.

"Aye," he said "It's a deal."

**XXXXXXX**

"I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Sam called out enthusiastically as he was fighting off goblins and doing pretty good at it.

"Yeah, you and me both!" Felix was at his side and was enjoying it a lot more than he'd intended to. Goblins were disgusting creature and it felt like the more they killed the more kept coming back. They reminded him quite a bit like cockroaches. The cave troll however, was a lot more frightening and more difficult to kill. Laura had just managed to take cover from a goblin when she suddenly saw the troll grasping Frodo and threw him right across the room in the wall piercing a spear through his chest.

"Frodo!" she shouted and both she and Sam ran up to the hobbit. In the background Merry and Pippin had turned to fighting the troll when Legolas fired an arrow which finally had it falling dead on the floor.

"Frodo please don't die." Laura whispered and to her surprise, as well as everyone else's, Frodo suddenly shook awake and looked her.

"I'm not dead." he told her "I'm alright." He opened up his shirt and when Gimli saw what he was wearing underneath it and that the spear hadn't harmed him at all, the dwarf chuckled.

"Mithril; you're full of surprises Master Baggins."

"Speaking of which," said Maggie as she heard more footsteps and what sounded like drums banging not so far in the distance

"To the bridge of Khazad Dum!" Gandalf told them and they ran. Not that they managed to get very far because once they got out in the large hall they soon found themselves surrounded by goblins.

"For the record," said Natalie in a whisper "If I die now, I'm going to haunt _all_ of your arses."

Riley was about to reply back but something cut him off; something that sent the goblins scattering off back to wherever they came from and the fellowship were alone again. Except of course they weren't really alone. The first thing Felix saw that set his heart beating almost out of his chest was an orange glow around the corner at the far end of the hall.

"What is this new devilry?" Boromir asked

"I'm, uh…I'm gonna guess and say that that's not a good thing." said Riley

"No Master Riley. A balrog; a demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you, " Gandalf replied. Even the wizard was beginning to feel afraid "It is _not_ a good thing. Run."

"Yeah, thought as much."

And they ran. Boy did they run.

**XXXXXXX**

Maggie had never run so fast before in her life. She didn't know how she found the adrenaline to keep her going but then again she wasn't complaining. She didn't look back at the Balrog, she didn't dare and she prayed to whatever deities that would hear her that they would all get out of this alive. Maggie couldn't tell how long they had run for or how far they had left; she just wanted to get out of there and get out into the open again, breathe proper air.

"I can see the bridge!" Felix yelled and so could they. It wasn't too far away at all and they were all beginning to think they would get out of this.

"_That's_ the bridge?!" Laura said "You've got to be _shitting_ me!" But somehow they managed to get across the bridge; Legolas followed by Laura and Maggie; then Sam, Pippin and Merry, Riley, Felix and Boromir with Nat. Lastly, Aragorn and Frodo. All of them except Gandalf.

"What's he doing?" Felix asked when they turned around to Gandalf who was standing in the middle of the bridge, face to face with the balrog. "Is he insane?"

"He's saving us." Aragorn whispered.

**XXXXXXX**

Nobody could recall much of what happened next because it happened so quickly and the only thing on anyone's mind was to get out as fast as possible. It was only when they actually got out of Moria that it hit them; Gandalf was gone. He had fallen with the balrog and they were one less member of the fellowship. Riley had to put his head between his knees and he swore he was going to be sick but he managed not to throw up. He felt disoriented and nauseous but he was alive; they all were and that was all that mattered.

"Legolas," said Aragorn "Get them up. We have to get moving."

"Give them a moment for pity's sake." Boromir countered and then turned to Maggie. "He listens to you almost as though you were his mother; tell him that we cannot move yet."

By nightfall these hills will be swarming with Orcs! We must reach the woods of Lothlorien. Come, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, get them up. On your feet, Sam." said Aragorn. Maggie turned back to Boromir and just shrugged as if to say 'I'm sorry'.

**XXXXXXX**

"Stay close...they say a Sorceress lives in these woods. An elf-witch of terrible power. All who look upon her fall under her spell." said Gimli. Maggie thought she would have been used to it, after all, Elrond would say things in her mind every now and then if it was something only meant for her ears but hearing Galadriel's voice in her mind still caught her a bit off guard. _Welcome Margaret, you who carry the Star of Enwin and you who has changed the fate of Middle-Earth, _said Galadriel and Maggie couldn't help but to shiver but she was soon snapped out of it by Gimli's voice.

"Well, this is one dwarf she'll not get. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox." Of course he'd spoken too soon because they soon found themselves surrounded by arrows.

"The dwarf breathes so loudly we could have shot him in the dark." said the elf walking towards them

"Haldir, we need your help. We have come here for protection." Aragorn explained

"These woods are perilous Aragorn. We should go back." Gimli protested doubtfully

"They're elves," said Riley "They're not going to harm us."

At this, Haldir looked up at Riley. "And what would you know of the habits of elves little one?" he asked curiously

Riley raised an eyebrow and looked at Maggie. "Did he just call me _aier_? That's supposed to your nickname Mags but I'm pretty sure he just used it to insult me."

"Oh Ri, really? Not now. _Goheno nin _Master Elf_, _my cousin doesn't always think before he speaks." (Forgive me) Maggie said

"You also speak Elvish my Lady and you carry elven jewellery? I am most curious to know why but that will have to wait. The lady of realms is waiting for you. "

**XXXXXXX**

"Remember how I said Moria was a cover photo moment? Yeah, scratch that." said Nat as Haldir lead them through Lorien and finally to Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn. Galadriel, Laura thought, was incredibly beautiful and at the same time there was something very intimidating about her. It made her not want to look directly at her and Laura got the feeling that she wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"13 there are yet 14 were set out from Rivendell. Tell me where is Gandalf for I much desire to speak of him." asked Celeborn

("A balrog of Mordor." whispered Felix but Riley nudged him, deeming the timing wrong entirely.)

"The Quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all...Yet hope remains while the company is true." Galadriel looked at each member of the fellowship and when she got to Felix it was like her glanced fixed on him but she said nothing. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Go now and rest for you are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight you will sleep in peace."

**XXXXXXX**

Haldir showed them to their beds and Felix for one

**XXXXXXX**

"Why are you scared of her?" Laura asked. It was a while later and Haldir had showed them to where they would sleep. Laura, Maggie and Felix were sat chatting, a bit further away from the hobbits. Each of them trying to wrap their head recent events because quite frankly it was an awful lot to take in.

"You mean besides the fact that Galadriel is the mother of Elrond's wife who died and now there's me; yeah I've no reason to be terrified of her." Maggie replied.

"You realise she is one of the good guys right? Well then again she's also one of the most powerful elves ever." Felix said  
"Not. Helping." Maggie turned to Laura "You on the other hand missus, have a very obvious crush on Elf-boy."

"Shush, shut up. Not so loudly."

"He can probably hear you anyway because elves after all have super hearing. Trust me, I speak from experience. Also, you blush every time he speaks to you. Legolas isn't blind."

"If I remember correctly you were quite blind to the obvious too."

_I know that voice, _Maggie thought and when she turned around a very familiar face smiled back at her. "Elrohir!" Maggie jumped up and could barely believe her face when she saw Elrohir standing there in front of them and she couldn't be happier to see another friendly face.

"By the Valar, I had word that you two were back and then Haldir told me you were in Lorien I didn't believe him. I had to see it for myself. You have not aged a day." said Elrohir as he looked at Maggie.

"Yeah the thing about time is a little confusing. Elladan told me you were in Lorien, I'd forgotten. I mean, oh my god? How are you?"

"I am well. I don't know if 'Dan told you but I am married."

"Please tell me it's Talathel or I swear Elrohir I will hit you."

Elrohir laughed and nodded and Maggie smiled. "Aye, It will be a year in the spring." "Ahem," said Felix "Are you gonna introduce us?"

"I'm sorry. Guys this is Elrohir he's Elladan's brother. Elrohir these are my friends, Felix and Laura and then there's Natalie…actually…where is Nat?"

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure she's just crashed which I'm actually gonna do because I'm exhausted. It was nice to meet you…Elrohir was it?" Laura said

"Yes. The pleasure is all mine."

"Yeah, I'm gonna do the same and I'll leave you two to catch up. It's been a really, really long day." said Felix as he and Laura walked off, leaving Elrohir and Maggie alone.

"Now, where is that cousin of yours?"

**XXXXXXX**

"Sit. Still. Be a man for God's sake." Boromir winced as Natalie cleaned the wounds on his face. The two of them were sitting a bit further away from the rest of the group and Natalie found she actually quite liked it. Not that Natalie didn't enjoy the other's company but a little privacy was nice, at least after what they had all been through.

"Women in your world seem to have a way with words. Tell me something, have you always been this polite?" Boromir mused as he stroked a strand of hair out of Nat's face and she found herself blushing a little.

"Do you have a husband?" Boromir asked which caught Nat a bit off guard

"Tell me something, are you always this forward?"

"I'm merely curious."

Nat smiled and washed the cloth in some hot water. "No, I'm not married."

"Betrothed then?"

"Nope. I don't even have a boyfriend these days." Boromir couldn't understand it; surely a woman as beautiful as Natalie ought to be married or at least engaged. Had she been in Gondor she would have had trouble choosing but in that aspect, Boromir was glad he had her to himself at least for a little bit. As Nat was about to continue cleaning Boromir's wounds he instead took her hand in his and Nat could swear she felt her heart jumping out of her chest.

And then he kissed her.

**XXXXXXX**

Felix slept uneasily that night. He kept on twisting and turning and dreamt dreams he could only barely remember when he woke up and maybe that was a good thing. When morning came the fellowship gathered their belongings and were given provision, such food and other things by the Lorien elves and before they set off they were gathered in front of Lady Galadriel. She presented gifts to Boromir, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and the hobbits and then she stood in front of the Felix and Natalie.

"To you Felix and Natalie, I give these blades to keep you swift on your feet in times of battle. May them serve you well." _Elven blades_, thought Felix, _that certainly beats any Christmas or birthday present I have ever got. _

"Riley, I give you this bow to fend both yourself and others."

"I knew I took archery for a reason." said Riley, well pleased about it.

"Laura, you need no sword or bow. I give you this journal; may it bring hope in dark time."

And then Galadriel came to Maggie and for a few seconds she was silent until she finally spoke. "You Margaret, you already bear a gift within you that is greater than anything I can ever give." said Galadriel as she took Maggie's hand and placed them on her stomach.

"….What's that supposed to mean?" Maggie asked

"Oh my God!" Natalie burst out. "Don't you get it? You're pregnant!"

"Okay," Maggie said suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. "I, uh, I think I need to sit….down for a minute." Legolas and Felix caught hold of her before she collapsed and placed her on a nearby stone. She was pregnant? She was going to be a mother?

_**To be continued….**_

_**I know that was a freakishly long chapter but there were so many things I wanted to have said and done and I couldn't split it up into other chapters. I hope you liked it anyway and that you still want to continue reading it. Let me know what you think with a review? **_


	6. Broken bonds and wounded hearts

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N: **What do you think so far? And more important what are your opinions of my own characters? Do you like them at all? Are they believable? And most importantly I hope they're not Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu. Anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy it!

_**Six**_

_Broken bonds and wounded hearts _

**XXXXXXX**

"How many months?"

"Four according to Galadriel; which actually explains a lot."

"But it's a good thing right? I mean, you're happy?"

"Of course I'm happy Riley; it's just a lot to take in. I didn't exactly see it coming." Riley was sitting in a boat with Maggie and Aragorn, paddling down the river Anduin. They had left Lothlorien a few hours ago and Maggie was trying to come to terms with the fact that she was going to have a baby. What would Elrond say? He already had three children; did he want another one? Just because they would be getting married it didn't necessarily have to mean he wanted to be a father again. Maggie wondered if she would even be a good mother at all. All these questions were going over and over in her mind and she had to say the gods sure picked one hell of a time for her to be pregnant. She couldn't exactly just stay behind in Lothlorien either; well she could but she also needed to play her part in the quest.

"I wish I could tell him." said Maggie

"Mags; this is Elrond we're talking about, with any luck he probably already knows." Riley reminded her and Aragorn nodded.

"Riley holds a valid point." he agreed. Eventually they reached shore and pulled the boats on the beach.

"We cross the lake at nightfall, hide the boats and continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the North."

"Oh, yes," Gimli was neither impressed nor looking forward to the particular chosen path. "It's just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil, an impassable labyrinth of razor sharp rocks. And after that it gets even better...a festering, stinking marshland, far as the eye can see."

"It can't be that bad." said Nat

"And that is our road…I suggest you take your rest Master Dwarf and recover your strength." Aragorn added

"Recover my—"

"It isn't the eastern shore that worries me." Legolas told them. He'd been feeling uneasy for quite a long while now. "A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind. Something draws near, I can feel it."

"Speaking of worrying….where's Frodo?" Maggie asked as she looked around and realised that the ringbearer wasn't there.

**XXXXXXX**

They all went in search for Frodo and it was Laura who found him but she had also found him with Boromir. She stayed hidden behind a tree and watched the scene play out in front of her and wasn't entirely sure what to do. She didn't really dare interrupting them but at the same time she couldn't just stand by in case Boromir actually did hurt Frodo. Out of all the members of the Fellowship it was Frodo she felt like she had connected with; at least in terms of friendship and she was pretty sure he thought the same way of her. The suddenly, something happened Laura didn't expect – Frodo disappeared and Boromir called out to him desperately asking for forgiveness and then when he was out of sight Laura saw Frodo appear again on a set of stone tables not too far away.

"Frodo." Aragorn had caught up with him and the hobbit jumped and seemed to shy away from Aragorn.

"Stay away!"

"Frodo!" Laura called out as she ran out from behind the trees. "It's just Aragorn." she told him and the ringbearer looked sceptically at them.

"Frodo, I swore to protect you." Aragorn told him

"Can you protect me from yourself?"

"I would have gone with you to the end, to the very fires of Mordor." Aragorn turned to Laura and she knew then what she had to do. She didn't want to leave the others, her friends but she knew that this was her part in the quest. It was what she was meant to do and when Laura turned to Frodo she could see that he also knew.

"I have to go too don't I?" she said and then looked at Aragorn "Will you look after the others?"

"Especially Sam," Frodo added "He won't understand."

"Frodo…." Laura gestured towards his blade which was glowing blue and that only meant one thing. Orcs.

Aragorn nodded. "You have my word. Quickly now; run."

**XXXXXXX**

"Riley! Look! It's Frodo and Laura!" Merry was right. Riley saw Laura and Frodo running fast as they could down the slope towards the sea. When he heard heavy footsteps approaching them Riley grabbed the two hobbits and they hid behind a tree. Frodo had heard them and when the ringbearer turned around and met their eyes, Riley, Merry and Pippin all knew what it meant.

"They're leaving." Riley said and there was nothing they could do to change that. They could only help them and so when the orcs finally swarmed the place Riley and the hobbit all got the same idea. Once they came out of their hiding place the orcs caught their attention and Frodo and Laura could make their escape.

"Hey!" Riley shouted as one of the orcs was about attack Pippin from behind. "Don't you touch them!" It turned around to him and Riley got ready to fire his arrow but before he got the chance to Boromir appeared from out of nowhere in front of him and cut down the orc in front of Riley.

"Protect the halflings!" Boromir called to Riley "Go!" Before Riley knew it the three of them were all grabbed and picked up by the orcs who marched away with them and there was nothing they could do. The last thing Riley saw before the carried them out of sight was Boromir being shot in the chest by one of the orcs and collapsing on the ground.

**XXXXXXX**

By the time Nat, Maggie and Felix finally found Aragorn again the woods were full with orcs and once again they found themselves in battle. Nat cut the head off an orc and when the next closed up on Maggie, Nat stabbed it and the creature fell dead on the ground.

"Maggie!"

"Shit me that was close." Maggie said. Something then caught their attention; the sound of a horn blowing in the distance.

"That's Boromir's horn." said Aragorn and they all dashed off through the woods hurrying off in the direction of the sound, killing off as many orcs along the way as possible. When they saw finally saw Boromir he was laid against a tree with three arrows in his chest and it was Nat who rushed up towards him.

"Boromir!"

"They took the little ones….and Riley." Boromir voice was weak and he was coughing blood.

_What? _Maggie thought, _Riley's gone? _

Nat had tears streaming down her face as she knelt down beside Boromir. He took her hand in his and looked into her eyes, stroking a strand of her out of her face for one last time.

"You truly are you beautiful." he told her "I would have made you my wife had I got the chance."

"Don't talk like that; you're not going to die."

"Nat…" Felix whispered; watching the scene in front of him was dreadful and he hardly knew what to say let alone how to act. Aragorn knelt down on the other side of Nat and tried pulling the arrow out of his chest but Boromir stopped him and shook his head.

"I would have followed you to the end my Brother, my Captain, my King." And when they realised those were his last words Aragorn closed Boromir's eyes and Nat sobbed into Maggie's arms.

"Be at peace son of Gondor."

**XXXXXXX**

"I have to admit something." Laura said as Frodo pushed the boat into the water

"What?" he asked

"I'm terrified." When Frodo got inside the boat he looked at Laura and took her hand.

"So am I," he told her "But we have each other."

"Mr. Frodo!" Frodo and Laura turned around to Sam who was running towards them, desperately trying to catch up with them and waded through the water.

"Go back Sam! You can't swim!" but Sam didn't listen and when Laura realised that he was going to drown she screamed and Frodo reached into the water, luckily grabbing Sam's arm and pulled him up onto boat in time.

"What were you thinking?!" Laura asked as she was crying

"I made a promise Mr. Frodo. A promise. 'Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee' and I don't meant to, I don't mean to."

**XXXXXXX**

Come nightfall, all orcs were either dead or had evacuated the area. Legolas, Felix, Gimli and Nat stood by and watched as both Nat and Aragorn sent Boromir's body off on the raft down the waterfall.

"What are we going to do now?" Maggie asked

"I will not abandon Merry, Riley and Pippin to torment and death. Let us hunt some orc."

"Ah," said Felix "This means we're gonna have to run again doesn't it?"

_**To be continued….**_

_**So there we have it; the fellowship is broken. Boromir has died. Riley has been kidnapped by orcs along with Merry and Pippin. Laura has gone with Frodo and Sam. Nat, Maggie and Felix will be orc hunting with Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas. In the prequel fic Maggie and Riley were together in Rivendell for a year and this time I wanted to separate them instead. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought! **_


	7. Rohan

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters. **  
A/N: **Not much to say, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

**_Seven _**

_Rohan _

**XXXXXXX **

"Okay," Felix bent down, his head between his knees and panted heavily "Stop running. Please, for the love of God."

"Good call laddie!" Gimli agreed, obviously equally exhausted. Maggie had lost track of how long they'd been running for; it could be days just as well as it could be weeks and quite frankly she was tiring as well. They all stopped and Aragorn agreed they could have a break for a few minutes. Felix was the first one to lie flat out on the grass and he didn't even care about how damp the ground was after last night's rain.

"I thought you were supposed to be a football player." Natalie said. "Running's kind of meant to be your thing and anyway you're not the pregnant woman."

"Yeah well, maybe it's not my calling anymore and _anyway_ that should be a good enough reason for stopping, Maggie needs her rest." Maggie rolled her eyes and wondered if their constant bickering would ever stop; but nevertheless the break was welcomed. She sat down on a nearby stone and let out of a deep breath. Something caught Aragorn's eyes; something small lying on the ground and when he picked it up he saw that it was one of the brooches holding together their cloaks.

"Aragorn?" Maggie asked

"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall." the Ranger turned around to Legolas who was standing on a cliff not too far off, looking out over the view ahead of them. "Legolas what do your elf-eyes see?"

Nat turned to Felix who counted down "Three. Two. One. They're…"

"They're taking the hobbits to Isengard."

"We have to leave. They orcs are not too far ahead." said Aragorn

"And here we go again."

**XXXXXXX **

When Riley finally opened his eyes again and regained consciousness he wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been out for. _Orcs, _he realised, _I'm being carried by an orc. _They were marching fast and Riley wondered exactly where they were headed. Whatever their destination was, it was nowhere good. Riley didn't exactly know what he had expected from the quest; one part of him had assumed he would be going with Aragorn and the others but he felt in his heart that he was supposed to look after Merry and Pippin.

"Riley! You're awake!"

Riley snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Pippin who was on the orc marching next to him.

"Are you alright Pippin?"

"I'm fine but I think Merry needs help." Pippin was right; Merry was unconscious and didn't respond to them.

"Merry! Merry wake up!" Riley called

"My friend is sick!" said Pippin out loud "He needs water!"

The orcs started chuckling and one of them walked towards Merry and poured some thick kind of fluid down his throat which definitely wasn't water. But after a while the hobbit seemed to regain consciousness and opened his eyes.

"Merry! You're awake!"

"It's okay Pippin, it was only an act."

_Yeah, right, _Riley thought but decided not to say anything. They were all okay and that was all that mattered.

He just hoped that their friends were too.

**XXXXXXX **

Laura pretended to be asleep with her eyes closed. Quite frankly, she had given up on sleeping a long time ago but this was part of their plan. She found that her thoughts kept drifting to her friends and wondered what they were doing at that moment and if they were alive. They had to be, she told herself. Laura had neither read nor seen the Lord of the Rings and didn't know the story like the others did. She had no idea what to expect and some part of her wondered if that was the reason to why she was with Frodo and Sam.

"It's ours…we wantss its…"

_Remember the plan, _Laura thought as she tried not to be sc

"Frodo!" she called out and Sam and Frodo leapt to their feet but Gollum grabbed hold of Laura's neck tightly.

"This is Sting! You've seen it before haven't you…Gollum! Release her or I'll cut your throat."

**XXXXXXX **

"Is it just me or can you guys hear horses?" Felix asked and he was right. It wasn't just one or two horses but dozens of them riding across the plain and when they saw the six companions they gathered in a circle around them. When Maggie realised who their leader was she gave a little squeal and pinched Nat's arm.

"Ouch! What the hell was that….OH!"

"What business does an elf, a man and a dwarf and…..and." Eomer seemed to struggle to find a word to describe Felix, Maggie and Natalie with.

"Yeah I know, we're a bit of motley crue." Felix said

"What business do you have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!"

"Give us your name horse master and I'll give you mine." Gimli told him.

Eomer got off his horse and grasped his sword which he aimed at Gimli. "I would cut off your head, _dwarf_, if it stood but a little higher from the ground."

As a response to this Legolas reached for his bow and things suddenly got a little more hostile than intended. "You would die before you stroke fell." he threatened.

"Okay, seriously. Can we _please_ not kill each other just yet?" said Nat with an annoyed sigh "Aragorn, talk sense into them."

"I am Aragorn son of Arathorn. This is Gimli son of Gloin and this is Legolas of the Woodland realm."

"And what of these three?" Eomer referred to Maggie, Nat and Felix. "You travel these roads with a woman obviously carrying a child? Such a choice is risky."

Maggie turned around to Nat and Felix "Am I really showing that much?" she whispered

"This is Felix and Natalie. The pregnant woman is Maggie. We're hunting a pack of uruk-hai westward across the plain. They've taken three of our friends captive."

"One of them was my cousin." Maggie added

"The uruk are destroyed." said Eomer after a moments silence "We slaughtered them during the night."

"What?" Felix asked and he could feel a sense of panic growing within him "Well did you see them?"

"They would be two hobbits and one man with them!" Gimli explained

"The hobbits would be small, only children to your eyes."

Eomer shook his head "We left none alive."

_No, no, no, they have to be alive. They need to be alive, _Maggie thought and desperately tried to hold back her tears. Eomer gave them three horses. A silence fell, nobody really knew what to say to break it but Eomer whistled and three horses came up to him.

"May these horses bear you better fortune than their masters. Farewell. Look for you friends, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken this land."

**XXXXXXX **

They rode in silence to what was left of the uruk-hai camp. There were dead bodies in a piled and it smelled awful. There was no sign of neither Riley nor Merry and Pippin. Nat began to feel a knot growing in her stomach and a feeling of hopelessness as well as fear. They couldn't have lost their friends. She absolutely refused to believe and turned around to her friends.

"I know Nat, I know." Felix whispered and pulled her in for a hug.

Minutes went by and they stood their, Aragorn crying out in agony but then as he knelt down on the ground, he noticed something. They could all tell.

"Aragorn? What is it?" Maggie asked

"A hobbit lay here and there the other." Aragorn replied "Riley was here too. Their hands were bound. They ran over here. They were followed. The tracks lead away from the battle and into…"

"Fangorn forest." Gimli said and all of them stared at the woods in front of them. The trees were huge and the thought of going in there was daunting. "What madness drove the in there?"

"Well," said Felix before anyone else "Only one way to find out."

**XXXXXXX **

"I don't like this. I don't like this at all." Nat was terrified. She'd always been much more of an indoor than outdoor person and there was something about Fangorn that terrified her and then there was the noise. "Why you and Riley ever go hiking voluntarily is beyond me. And what is that noise?" Legolas and Aragorn were speaking to each other in Elvish and looked around wearily. The fact that they were both a little on edge made Nat even more nervous.

"Maggie, you're the one who understands Elvish, what are they saying?" Felix asked

"I only speak a little." she replied

"The white wizard is approaching." Legolas told them

"Okay." Maggie admitted "_Now_ I'm scared." and clutched onto Nat's arm and Nat in turn clutched onto Felix.

"Uh…guys." said Nat and came to a full halt when they were met by a very bright, white light and a voice speaking to them.

"You're tracking the footsteps of two young hobbits and a young man."

"Where are they?" Aragorn asked

"They passed this way two days ago. They met someone they did not expect. Does that comfort you?"

"I've gotta tell you, not really no." said Felix

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Legolas fired and arrow but it was deflected back at him and they were met by a white bright light. When the light subsided the person in front of them was not who they expected to be.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Nat couldn't believe her eyes. "Gandalf…."  
"It cannot be. You fell."

"Through fire and water. I've been sent back here until my task is done." As Gandalf said this his eyes met Felix, Nat and Maggie and they could see that there was a glint in them as well. "One stage of your journey is over but another has yet to begun. Rohan is at war, we must ride quickly to Edoras."

They all stared at him in awe, still finding it hard to believe that he was there, alive. When the seven companions reached the edge of the forest Gandalf whistled and Maggie could see a horse galloping towards them in the distance, almost as from out of nowhere.

"He is beautiful…"she whispered in astonishment

"That is one of the Mearas unless my eyes are cheated by some spell." Legolas explained

"This is Shadowfax, he is the lord of all horses and his been my friend through many dangers." said Gandalf and they rode off to Edoras.

**XXXXXXX **

Edoras was only a short ride away but their arrival was less than welcome. Within less than five minutes of being there the guards were aiming their weapons at them and asked them to hand them any weapons they carried. Reluctantly they all did and when one of the guards came to Maggie she looked at him sceptically.

"You're joking right?" she asked and the guard seemed a bit confused at this "Are you blind or can you really not see that I'm pregnant? Can you please not have your pointy sticks in my face or I swear to God I will shove them up somewhere I can guarantee you're not gonna like it." the poor guard, a man in his early thirties, didn't seem to know what to do or how to react so he looked at the others.

"Mate, I wouldn't want to piss her off normally and definitely not when she's pregnant and hormonal. I wouldn't risk it." Felix told him and eventually the guard decided to leave it and then turned to Gandalf.

"Your staff." he said

The wizard just raised an eyebrow and the spoke in his most innocent voice. "Oh? Surely you would not rob an old man off his walking staff?" The security guard mumbled something inaudible under his breath and the eventually opened the doors and let them inside. It was cold and the air was strange, awkward in a way Nat thought. She saw Théoden sat on his throne at the end of the hall with Grima Wormtongue, whispering things in the king's ears.

"The courtesy of your hall is lessened of late Théoden King." Gandalf told him

"Gandalf the grey is coming. He is not welcome." he hissed

"Why should I welcome you Gandalf Stormcrow?" asked Théoden, his voice sounded very worn out.

"Slightly uncalled for but okay." Nat said

"He brings strangers from distant lands that cannot be trusted. They will only bring death to your people my Lord." Wormtongue told the king

"Okay, now it's personal."

"Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear! Lathspell I name him. Ill news in ill guest."

"Be silent!" Gandalf was very clearly getting annoyed with Wormtongue. "Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth! I have not passed through two worlds and near death to bandy grid words with witless worms." he took vast steps towards the king and revealed his staff

"His staff!" Wormtongue called out in panic "I told you to take the wizard's staff!"

"I guess it sucks to be you." Felix smirked

"Théoden son of Thengel," Gandalf's voice boomed loudly through the hall and the air grew dark. "Too long have you sat in the shadows. Attend to me, I will release you from this spell. I will draw you Saruman as poison is drawn from a wound."

Felix grabbed Eowyn who was about to ran forward to her uncle. "Wait." he told her

Suddenly, they could all hear Saruman's voice speaking through Théoden. "If I go Théoden dies. Rohan is mine." he told them and it made all of Nat shiver. Hearing him like this frightened her more than she had expected it would.

"You did not kill me. You will not kill Théoden." Gandalf said, he was not going to given

"And what of the unborn child? You cannot protect everyone Gandalf the White. I am stronger than you. Can you really have the death of a child on your conscience, especially a child of Lord Elrond?" Maggie felt all eyes on her and she suddenly felt very afraid. How could he know she was pregnant? Aragorn who was stood next to her grasped her hand in comfort.

"_BE GONE_!" Théoden cried out a horrifying scream and within a few moments the king was restored back to his old self and Saruman was gone. Felix let go of Eowyn and she ran up to her uncle, kneeling beside him.

"I know your face. Eowyn…Eowyn." said the King

"Breathe free air again my friend." Gandalf told him

"Dark have been my dreams of late."

"Perhaps," said Gandalf "But your fingers would remember their strength better if they grasped your sword."

Felix turned around to the girls and whispered so that only they could hear him. "Bye bye Grima."

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_Originally this chapter was going to be a lot longer but I saved a lot of the other things for the next chapter which I think you'll like. Reviews please? _**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, only my characters.

**A/N: Heads up for swearing in this chapter. If that ain't your kind of thing cover your eyes. Otherwise enjoy! **

**_Eight _**

**XXXXXXX**

_Maggie woke up to the familiar touch of Elrond's hand against her chin. She opened her eyes to find him sitting next to her, smiling but she wasn't in Edoras; she was back in Rivendell on the terrace outside their bedroom. The sun was shining and it felt like the days when she and Riley had lived there. _

_"I know this is a dream but it still feels so real."_

_"Just because it's a dream it doesn't mean it can't be real." Maggie put her arms around the Elf-lord and he pulled her close to him.  
"I miss you so much." Maggie whispered. She then took his hands and placed them on her stomach. She couldn't explain it but somehow she knew that the baby could feel that they were both there in that moment. _

_"I can feel him," said Elrond "His heart beats strong." _

_"His? He's a boy? We're having a son!"_

_Elrond nodded. "Aye and you look even more beautiful with child." Then Maggie remembered Saruman's words before Gandalf had removed him from Théoden. _

_"Saruman said…he knows about the baby. Elrond, I'm terrified, what if he does something or…"_

_"Ssh, my love." Elrond said calmly as he stroked Maggie's hair "As long as I live I will let no force in this world harm our child. This I swear to you." _

_The elf-lord placed a soft kiss on Maggie's lips. "Go back to sleep _melemin." he told her and with those worlds Maggie soon found herself drifting back off to sleep and woke up on her bed, in Edoras.

**XXXXXXX**

It was early morning when Nat saw Maggie walking out the doors. It was so early in fact the sun had not risen yet and the air was freezing. It took a while for Nat to snap out of her thoughts because there was a lot on her mind. Last night after Wormtongue's rather quick getaway two children had appeared on a horse by Edoras, nearly fainting from exhaustion. They'd found out that their village had been burnt down on order by Saruman. Maggie sat down next her friend and yawned, at the same time realising she could kill for a cup of coffee. It then hit Maggie, that with her being pregnant, it was going to take a really long time before she'd be able to actually have coffee again. _So long caramel macchiato, _she thought.

"You're up early." Nat told her

"I couldn't go back to sleep."

"Wanna talk about it?"

Maggie sighed and was silent for a few moments before she replied. "This is going to sound crazy but I saw Elrond. He came to me in a dream. The baby is a boy. I'm having a son."

Nat didn't reply. In fact, she didn't say anything for a good long while and sat staring into distance.

"What's wrong?" Maggie asked

"Nothing." Nat replied shortly

"Nat, I can tell something's bothering you. What is it?"

"He saved me."

"Who?"

"Boromir, in Moria. I was about to be knocked out by the cave troll and he saved me."

_Ah, _Maggie thought, _that's what this is about, _she realised. "Nat, there was nothing we could do." said Maggie "Boromir is at peace now. He can't suffer anymore." It wasn't much help and in fact Maggie couldn't even imagine what it must feel like to lose somebody you loved, which Nat had clearly done.

"Didn't you hear what he said though? He fancied me, hell he wanted to _marry_ me! And you know what, I fancied him. Not everybody has it as good as good as you Mags."

Maggie blinked at that sentence because she hadn't seen that one coming. "Easy? Nat, no part of this is easy for me."

Nat was getting annoyed because in her opinion, Maggie didn't understand. "Oh it's not? You're practically friends with everyone which means that everybody treats you like a princess."

"Where is this suddenly coming from? You have _no_ idea what I've been through. Being pregnant isn't easy and I have no idea what all of this is doing the baby. I don't even know if the baby will survive this and it's not like I can just turn back around. For God's sake Nat before we left Rivendell Elrond asked me to marry him and for the record, I told him yes."

Nat stared at Maggie and didn't quite know what to say. "What...but that means."

"That I have to stay in Middle-Earth. Yeah." Maggie hadn't planned on telling anyone just yet but the words had just slipped out of her mouth and she was angry now.

"Maggie you can't stay." Nat told her "We don't _belong_ in this world we have to go home."

Maggie shook her head. "No. I need to stay. You don't understand, Middle-Earth _is_ my home now. I _can't_ go back; if the baby _does_ survive I can't just leave here or leave Elrond. Nat, I'm _bound_ to him this is something way beyond anything you'll ever understand."

The argument was quickly escalating and their voices were so loudly now that the few people who were awake could hear them but she didn't care. "Oh right, I see, so it's perfectly alright for you to just leave behind everyone who cares about you. Your mum and dad, what'll they say? What'll _we_ tell them? Did you forget about that? That this falls on us? But that's just always been you hasn't it Maggie, everything always has to revolve around pretty Miss Margaret Spencer without any regards for anyone else."

Maggie was absolutely fuming. "Oh yeah that's coming from the right mouth Little Miss 'I cheated on Ian Hartford because I slept with Seven Second Seb and then claimed I don't remember it because I was drunk.'" She knew she'd crossed the line but she didn't care, this was something old that they hadn't sorted out and somehow that came out now. She raised her hand, getting ready to slap Maggie right across the face but she wasn't able to because Aragorn caught her hand.

"That's _enough_!" he bellowed furiously "Don't you understand? This is exactly what Saruman wants! He wants us to fight amongst ourselves and that does not help Frodo, Laura and Sam. We need to stay together."

"Yeah, stay together all you want Aragorn, but keep her far the _hell_ away from me." Maggie said and stormed off back inside.

"Maggie!" Felix called as he ran after her

"Leave me the fuck alone Felix!"

"Maggie! Jesus Christ, just wait a minute, what was that about?"

"Why don't you ask the bitch on the other side of the door? I am done." With that Maggie left the hall and slammed the door shut in Felix's face.

**XXXXXXX**

Knowing what Maggie was like Felix decided there was no use pushing her and that it was best to give her some time to calm down. It was still a frustrating situation for him to be caught between two friends. Felix ran his hand through his hair, sighed and sank down on the closest chairs.

Legolas had been watching the scene play out but hadn't interfered until then. "You and Maggie, you used to have something." he asked

Felix looked up at the elven prince, not even surprised that he knew about it. "Yeah, we were together. She's my ex." he told him in honesty

"For a long time it seems?"

"We were together for a year and half; it's been a year and bit since we broke up."

"Why?"

_I've been asking myself that a lot, _Felix thought. "It's a bit complicated; I guess she just fell out of love with me. Don't get me wrong we're still close…."

"You still care deeply about her."

"Please don't tell anyone; least of all her."

Legolas put his hand on Felix's shoulder. "You have my word _mellonin_." (My friend)

**XXXXXXX **

"You look like you could use some company. May I sit?" Nat quickly dried off her tears when she heard Eomer's voice behind her. She nodded and he sat down next to her.

"You girls caused quite a scene earlier and you seemed upset. I thought somebody should see if you were alright my Lady. Natalie was it?"

"Most people just call me Nat and yeah I'm okay thanks."

"Forgive me my forwardness, but that does not quite seem to be the case. From what I have seen you two appear to be close friends.

"She said some horrible things to me."

"Ah, and did you not say equally horrible things to her?" Nat fell silent and tears kept running down her face. She knew of course that Eomer was right.

"These are dark times we live in and it is in such times it's the most important to keep your friends close. Especially for you because if I am right, your home is very far away."

"Yeah, pretty damn far."

"I should like to hear about that world sometime. But I think perhaps you should speak to your friend first. We ride to Helm's Deep tomorrow; to battle. You may not get more chances."

**XXXXXXX **

"Bugger off Felix! I don't want to speak to you." said Maggie when she heard the knock on her door.

"Then maybe I shall have better luck." It wasn't Felix's voice behind the door but it was Gandalf who opened the door and walked inside.

"Gandalf…I'm sorry I didn't…I thought you were Felix."

"And quite understandable too." said the Wizard as he sat down next to Maggie. "My dear girl, the five of you have been through something quite extraordinary together; something that has undoubtedly changed your lives forever, for you quite literally. There has been, I think, enough fighting done on Saruman's account."

Maggie sighed, realising Gandalf's point and that the wizard was indeed very much right. "I keep thinking, I mean, I know I shouldn't but if Saruman has the power to get into Théoden, then what's there to say he can't get to me, to my son?"

"Ah, you forget that you have one very powerful wizard and more than a few good friends on your side and I can assure you that none of us will let him get to you." Yet there was something within Gandalf, a small bit of fear that lingered and a feeling he couldn't quite shake off.

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

**_A different chapter but I wanted there to be some focus on Maggie, Nat and Felix. I hope you like it anyway._**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters

**A/N:** Thank you guys so much for the reviews! They keep me going! I'm smack in the middle of exam time so chapters might not be up as quickly but good things come to those who wait right? Here's the next chapter and a gold star for the person who can spot the hidden Marvel reference! Enjoy!

**_Nine _**

**XXXXXXX**

_Three days earlier _

Riley was lying on the wet grass with his close. He'd counted his lucky stars and they were beginning to run out. Treebeard had brought them their death, he was sure of it.

"This is it," said the football player "I'm going to die and I haven't even finished my degree yet."

"Die? I think Master Riley, that perhaps you are mistaking me for someone else." the voice that replied was all too familiar and neither Riley, Merry nor Pippin could believe their ears. "I have no intention of killing you; in fact I hope to you see you through all of this alive."

"Merry!" Pippin was ecstatic "It's Gandalf!"

"But you died! We saw you falling with the balrog."

"Indeed I did Meriadoc, but the greater forces of this world are on our side. There is yet some strength in this old fool. Now, we must act quickly, I have business to attend to and task for the three of you."

**XXXXXXX**

"I don't trust him Frodo." Even if Gollum had given Frodo his word and told him that he would guide them to Mordor, Laura didn't trust it for one moment. There was a feeling in her gut that told her something wasn't right but in the end she did trust Frodo and knew that he wouldn't put her or Sam in harms way.

"Eugh! There are things in the water!" Frodo called out and Laura could see it too. Faces of actual people.

"What are they?" she asked

"Orcses and elves. They died in a great war." Gollum explained and he seemed scarily pleased about it, or at least so Laura thought.

"I hope the others are okay." she whispered. Laura expected a reply from Frodo but when she got none she turned around and saw to her horror that the hobbit had fallen into the water with those things.

"SAM!" she called

"Get him out!" Sam told Gollum "You get him out right now!"

**XXXXXXX**

The mood in Edoras was strange that day; not only because of the argument between Nat and Maggie but people were weary; frightened even. They were leaving for Helm's Deep soon and Nat had gone to find Maggie to set things straight but it seemed like Maggie had thought the same way because halfway between the stables and the great hall they ran into each other.

"Erhm.…hi." said Nat

"I'm just gonna say it right away. I'm sorry. I was way out of line Nat, I'm sorry. I was angry and I didn't mean any of the things I said. Gandalf was right, we need to stick together in this and I don't know what I would do if I didn't have you guys here."

"We both said some pretty awful things and I'm sorry too. Forgive me?" Maggie dried the tears off her face, nodded and the two girls hugged.

"So, you're getting married huh?"  
"Yeah. I know I should've told you before but I didn't know how and I didn't know how you guys would react."

"Nobody else knows do they?" Nat understood why Maggie hadn't told the

"I only told Aragorn. It's not like it's the most important thing at the moment; we're going to Helm's Deep. You know what that means."

Nat nodded, she knew very well and it scared her.

**XXXXXXX**

"You've some skill with the blade." Felix was walking through the great hall when he came across Eowyn and Aragorn. _Ah, _he thought, _this ought to be good. _

"Women of this country learned long ago that those without swords could still die upon them," said Eowyn "I fear not death nor pain."

"What do you fear lady?"

"A cage," Eowyn's eyes traced to Felix and for a quick moment their eyes locked but then she turned back to Aragorn. "To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them, and all chance of valour has gone beyond recall or desire,"  
"You are the daughter of kings," Aragorn told her, "A shield-maiden of Rohan. I do not think this will be your fate," They didn't exchange anymore words after that and Aragorn left.

"You're holding the blade in the wrong angle." Felix said shortly afterwards. He walked into the hall now and it was only the two of them there.

"I know what I'm doing." Eowyn replied coldly, as though she was offending.

"Ah of course," Felix leaned against the wall "So when your enemy attacks you from behind you're going to have plenty of time to lift the sword up swing around and then disarm him before he stabs you? But then again, you're not going into battle so all of this is really quite useless knowledge."

"Will you show me?"

Felix couldn't help but to grin. "I'd love to."

**XXXXXXX**

"Who is the child's father if I may ask?" Théoden had called to a small summon with Gandalf, Aragorn and Maggie. She had an idea what it was about but that didn't make her any less nervous.  
"Lord Elrond of Rivendell my Lord." Maggie replied. Théoden turned to Gandalf as if he didn't believe her but the wizard just smiled.

"It's true; Maggie is pregnant with a young prince of Rivendell. Most delightful news." Gandalf told him.

"And very dangerous too. If the enemy were to find out –"

"—she is in perfectly safe company, I can assure you."

"He's a boy? Aragorn asked as he looked at Maggie and she nodded.

Théoden crossed his arms and still didn't seem to be as reassured and his eyes fixed on Maggie. "I hope Mithrandir, that you are right. The safety of you Lady Margaret and of your child, your unborn son, falls on all of us. We ride to Helm's Deep before nightfall." said the king and then left.

"So," Maggie turned to Gandalf and Aragorn "He's a….cheerful fellow."

**XXXXXXX**

"SO! Sword fighting with Eowyn huh!" Felix got a near heart attack when Nat and Maggie came out from behind the door and each grabbed one of his arms. After the summon with the king Maggie had gone to find Nat who had been eavesdropping on Eowyn and Felix so she'd decided to join in.

"Fucking hell where did you two come from?!" the two girls grinned as they walked through halls of Meduseld.

"Own up Felix; you like her don't you?" Maggie said although it wasn't as much a question as it was a statement.

"I kind of like her; I mean it's not like I properly know her."

"Oh please," said Nat "You've fancied her since you first read the books."

"Yeah well it's a little different being here in person and all. Because you know, Middle-Earth wasn't supposed to be real. Besides, she only has eyes for Aragorn anyway so what chance do I have?"

At this remark, both girls slapped him over his head at the same time. "Ouch! What was that for?

"Us being here changes things right?" Nat told him "It changes the timeline; I don't exactly know how much yet but nothing's for certain anymore. It must've already started when Maggie and Riley were here the first time and I'm thinking maybe we're _supposed_ to change things."

"What do you mean?"

"I think Nat's point is that anything can happen now. I'm pregnant with Elrond's child aren't I so what's there to say you can't get with Eowyn right?" Maggie said

"Exactly." By now the three of them had reached the stables

"So, are we ready for this?"

**XXXXXXX**

They weren't ready. Not by a long shot but within the hour they had all set off for Helm's Deep and Maggie dreaded what was to come. They had been walking for hours and it seemed like they were never going to get to Helm's Deep.

"What about Emmet?" Nat suggested

"Oh dear god no!" Maggie cried out which made a few people look around "I am not naming my child after a twilight character!"

"What's twilight?" Gimli asked who was walking beside the girls and Eowyn

"It's a really awful novel, well it can hardly be called a novel about vampires and an annoying girl named Bella. Girls in our world love it, it's some form of mass psychosis." Felix explained

"It's not that bad!" Nat argued "And anyway, you're one to talk Mister, you're the only one of us who's actually read _Fifty Shades_!"

"It was a bet that won me £10 and two pints down the pub!" To be honest, Felix would rather have forgot all about reading it "And it gave me nightmares for weeks, now can we please talk about something else?"

Eowyn laughed at this and Maggie and Nat just rolled their eyes.

"Who is she," Eowyn asked Aragorn "The woman who gave you that necklace?"

"Come on, not our queue." Maggie said as the three of them walked ahead to Legolas.

"I heard your baby is a boy." said the prince

"Yeah, it seems to be the gossip of the town."

"Mags, it's the _only_ gossip of the town" Felix said

"I don't know." Nat added "I can think at least one other thing that's going around or will be sooner or later." Felix shot her an annoyed glance and was going to reply but something cut him off, a scream heard up ahead and then something else caught their attention. Loud growls that too Maggie were all too familiar.

"Scouts!" Legolas called out "Warg scouts!"

Maggie could see them now. The gigantic wolf-like creatures standing at the top of the hill, heading down towards them.

"Oh no," she whispered "Not these guys again!"

"Looks like they're bringing the party to us." Felix said but even through his sarcasm he could hear his own fear.

"I, uhm…I don't see how that's a party."

**_To be continued!_**

* * *

**_I hope you liked it! Leave a review and tell me what you thought! _**


	10. He can't be dead

**Dislcaimer:** I own nothing except my own characters.

**A/N: **Well, I've just found out that I apparently have a 2000 word essay to write in five days at the same time as an exam to write for so there may not be a lot of updates in the next week as I'll likely be camping out in the computer room. Anyway, here's the next chapter which I hope you'll like; please do review and tell me what you think about it all!

**_Ten _**

_He can't be dead_

**XXXXXXX**

"Maggie! You cannot stay here!"

"Pregnant or not I am _not_ leaving my friends behind!"

Eowyn called after Maggie but it was too late, she'd disappeared in the crowd. Theoden had ordered Eowyn to take the women and children to Helm's Deep whilst the others stayed behind to fight but Maggie wasn't going to leave, not knowing what might happen to Riley and Nat. There were at least a dozen wargs, maybe even more charging towards them and in the midst of the chaos on the battle field Maggie could see Nat and Felix fighting off the wargs and not too far off were Gimli and Legolas.

"Maggie! You're insane!" Nat told her friend when she saw her. Shortly afterwards she also cut the head off an orc. "What the hell are you doing here?! If Aragorn see you he's going to absolutely kill you!"

"Unless of course these guys kill us first!" said Felix. The battle raged on for a long time and the three friends fought together. After a while the number of orcs and wargs were starting decline and those who were still alive escaped while they had the chance. There were dead bodies scattered across the battlefield, both that of orcs, wargs and some of their own.

"_Aier_," it was Legolas who put a hand on Maggie's shoulder "You should not be here."

"Yeah about—"

Maggie was cut off by Gimli calling out. "Aragorn!" There was no reply from Aragorn and when Maggie looked around she couldn't see him anywhere; nor could anyone else.

"ARAGORN!" Legolas shouted but still no reply came. They all searched for him but without any luck. Suddenly, Nat heard laughing, or more like cackling close to her. An orc lay there, with blood coming out of his mouth and he had a nasty grin on his face. Gimli walked up to him, putting his axe to the orc's throat.

"Tell us what happened and I will ease your passing!" Gimli threatened in a cold, dangerous voice.

"He's…dead."

"That little git! Let me—!" Felix was about to head up to the orc but Legolas held him back.

"Haha!" laughed the orc, "He took a little tumble off the cliff."

Maggie refused to believe it. It couldn't be true. "No…." she whispered and felt tears swelling up in her eyes.

"You lie!" Legolas hissed but the orc didn't reply anymore but died. Legolas saw something in the orcs hand and picked it up. When Nat, Maggie and Felix went up to him they could all see it was the necklace that Aragorn had got from Arwen.

"Get the wounded on horses! The wolves of Isengard will return!" Theoden ordered and then he turned to Legolas, Gimli and the others. "Leave the dead."

Nat, Felix and Maggie couldn't believe it. Aragorn was gone.

**XXXXXXX**

They rode in silence to Helm's Deep, in mourning. Nobody wanted to speak much and eventually they got there safely and were greeted by Eowyn at the gates.

"So few of you have returned; Lord Aragorn where is he?" she asked

"My lady," Gimli's voice fell and the dwarf looked down to the ground. "He fell."

Felix saw Eowyn's face go from hope to despair and grief as she sank down to the floor. "No," Maggie said quietly "I don't believe you! He isn't dead!" They all turned their attention to her as if she had said something impossible.

"Maggie, he fell off the cliff! There is no way he could have survived that." Felix told her, even though he wanted to believe that Aragorn was still alive.

"The orc must've been lying! We didn't see him actually fall of the cliff did we?" None of them argued her point "If Gandalf could survive the Balrog then Aragorn can survive that! He'll be back¸ just you wait!" Maggie said and with that she left them.

"Is she always this stubborn?" Gimli asked

"Oh Master Dwarf," said Felix "You have no idea."

**XXXXXXX**

"The Black Gate of Mordor. "

Laura was breathless, speechless and absolutely terrified at the same time. "Wow…" she whispered. "I mean…wow."

"The old Gaffer would have a thing or two to say if he could see us now." Sam said

"Nobody back home would ever believe me."

"Master says you show him the way to Mordor and so Sméagol does." Gollum whispered, it was obvious he was nervous too and with all right.

"I did…" Frodo replied, almost enchanted by the view in front of them.

"So… how are we gonna get from here to there?" Laura asked

"Look!" Sam called out "the gate is opening! I can see a way down!" As Sam leaned forward the rock he'd been sat on broke off and the hobbit tumbled down the slope.

"Sam! No!" Laura reached to grab hold of Sam but in her attempt to do so she lost balance and slid down the slope with Sam. Frodo quickly came down after them and put his cloak over the three them. Laura held her breathe and closed her eyes, hoping the two guards would walk by without noticing them. Eventually they passed by and the two hobbits and Laura stood there, each of them wondering if they ought to make a run for it or not.

"No!" Gollum grabbed Frodo's arm and pulled him back "There's another way! A more secret way! A dark way!"

"You could've mentioned that a little earlier!" Laura hissed

"Master didn't ask us!"

"He's up to something" Sam added

Laura could only agree but Frodo didn't seem to be as worried.

"Are you saying there's another way into Mordor?"

**XXXXXXX**

"How do you know him so well?" Eowyn sat down next to Maggie. The two women hadn't exactly had any time to get a chance to talk and get to know each other.

"I lived with him in Rivendell when he was little. Me and my cousin." Maggie replied "We were there for a year. I used to read him bedtime stories and play hide and seek with him in the gardens." Eowyn listened with fascination. So many strange things had happened lately that she didn't find this particularly hard to believe.

"Oh.." Maggie felt something inside her, a very hard kick.

"What is it?"  
"The baby…he kicked. I could feel him kicking."

"May I?" Eowyn asked and put her hands on Maggie's stomach. Maggie couldn't describe it, feeling her own child kicking was something beyond anything she could imagine.

"Lady Margaret! My Lady Eowyn!" One of the guards came running up them and judging by the look on his face it seemed like he had seen a ghost "You better come see this!" he told them. The two women hurried up and through the crowd out towards the main gate. They saw Gimli on the way muttering loudly to himself.

"Where is he? Get out of the way! I'm gonna kill him!"

When Gimli saw Aragorn, the dwarf went up to him and gave him a big hug at which Aragorn just chuckled. The ranger looked up to see Maggie standing in front of him and when Gimli stepped aside Aragorn pulled Maggie in for a hug. However, when Maggie let go off him she punched his shoulder.

"Don't you ever do that again _Estel_! You had us worried sick!" she told him and wasn't really sure where she wanted to laugh or to cry.

"I swear she's the only one who can get away with that." Nat told Felix, both of them equally glad that Aragorn was back and they both hugged him.

"Where is the king?" Aragorn asked

**XXXXXXX**

"How many?" Théoden's voice was weary and deadly serious.

"Ten thousand strong at least."

"Ten thousand?"

"Saruman really doesn't play fair does he?" Maggie whispered to Nat and Felix.

"It is an army bred for a single purpose – to destroy the world of men. They will be here by nightfall." Aragorn told them.

"Let them come." said the king without a trace of fear in his voice.

But Maggie knew he was scared. They all were.

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_Hope you liked it! I can see a lot of people have added this fic to 'favorites' and 'followed' it as well! Please leave a review and tell me what you think? _**


	11. Captured

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N:** It's been a few days but I've been buried in Uni work! Those of you who don't know I've put up a new fic on my profile called "Muindor Nin" which is about young Estel so check that out if you want to! Anyway, here's the next chapter! Hope you like it!

**_Eleven_**

_Captured _

**XXXXXXX**

"Laura! Sam!" Frodo whispered, there was excitement in his voice. "Come here!" Sam and Laura exchanged glances and walked over to Frodo who was hiding behind a small hill and when Laura saw what he was looking at she could have sworn her chin fell to the ground.

"Okay, so who are these guys?" she asked, referring to the massive army of men marching beneath them.

"Wicked men," Gollum hissed, obviously not quite as impressed and fascinated as the other three were. "Servants of Sauron! They are called to Mordor! He is gathering all armies to him! It won't be long now!"

"Oh yes, that's reassuring." Frodo put a reassuring hand on Laura's shoulder, as if to tell her to remain calm.

"We've got to get moving," Frodo told them but as he was about to get up Sam grabbed his arm.

"Mr. Frodo! Look! It's an Oliphant! No one at home will ever believe this!" said Sam and Laura thought it almost sounded as though he was enchanted. The massive creatures made her feel almost like she was smack in the middle of Jurassic Park (the first one obviously), right before the T-Rex escaped and all hell broke loose.

"Frodo," Laura tugged the hobbits arm as something else had caught her attention. "Look at the Oliphants! Someone's….someone's shooting at them!" She was right; from out of nowhere arrows were being fired at them which brought the massive animals and their riders to fall.

"We've lingered here too long."

"Don't have to tell me—" Laura never got a chance to finish her sentence because someone grabbed her from behind and before they knew it, Sam, Frodo and Laura were all lying on the ground with swords and arrows at their throats. They were surrounded by a group of men

Sam was quick to respond "We're innocent travellers!"

"There are no travellers in this land!" said the one who seemed to be their leader. Obviously this was Faramir but Laura didn't know that. His glance fell on Laura "Only service of the dark tower."

"We are bound to an errand of secrecy!" Frodo told him "Those who claim to oppose the enemy would do well not to hinder us.

"Yeah I somehow don't think that's gonna work." Laura added

"The enemy? And who are you My Lady, traveling with these two…halflings? You don't seem like you belong in their world."

"Actually, I don't even really belong in _this_ world but let's not get into that."

"Bind their hands."

**XXXXXXX**

"Riley, where you come from, do you have hobbits?"

Treebeard and the other trees had been conferencing for hours, although it felt like much long. Riley sat up and turned to Pippin and wasn't sure what to reply at first because it had been such an unexpected question. The past few weeks and especially the past few days had brought him and the two hobbits closer together and Riley felt responsible in some way for their protection and for their fate.

"No Pippin," he chuckled "We don't have hobbits. Nor elves. Or dwarves. Or ents."

"What about trolls then? Or orcs?" Merry added

"No, none of that either. In fact, very few people in my world believe in magic at all." The two young hobbits couldn't believe their ears. Not believe in magic? Everybody believed in magic whether they liked to or not. It was impossible not to!

"Your world must be horribly boring! What do you do for fun?" Merry asked, he was curious now.

"Well," Riley tried to think of what they actually did do for fun. His view of the world and what was actually important had somewhat changed after having lived in Middle-Earth. He had different values than before and was in many ways a changed man. "We go to pubs like you do, we drink and we dance." he told them and realised that didn't sound very impressive at all.

"What about smoking? Do you have Old Toby?" Pippin asked

"No, in fact weed is actually illegal in a lot of countries."

The two hobbits looked as though both their chins had fallen to the ground.

"YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SMOKE?!" they exclaimed and Riley couldn't help but to laugh at it. He'd always loved hobbits and found them to be remarkable creatures.

"Well, there are other ways to have fun. You can go to cinema for example."

"What's a cinema?"

Riley had a feeling he was going to regret all of this. "You go to the cinema to watch films on a big screen."

"What's a film?"

"It's hard to explain, it's basically pictures that move."

Merry raised an eyebrow in scepticism. "Well that doesn't sound like much fun."

"I don't know Merry, even if hobbits don't exist in his world, they might have these…films about hobbits. Or maybe even books? Imagine if people wrote books about us Merry!"

_Yeah, _Riley thought as he zoomed out of the hobbits conversation, _imagine that. _

**XXXXXXX**

"My men tell me you are orc spies."

They'd been bound and taken to a cave that didn't seem to be too far away from where they had been captures. Once they were in the cave they were freed of their ropes. Laura wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry at the thought of being mistaken for orc spies.

"Orc spies? Now wait just a minute." she said

"Well if you're not spies then who are you?" Faramir sat down in front of them and waited impatiently for an answer. "Speak!"

Frodo seemed to dwell on it for a while until he finally spoke. "We are hobbits of the Shire. Frodo Baggins is my name and this is Samwise Gamgee."

"Your bodyguard?"

Sam seemed offended. "His gardener."

"And what about you, My Lady? What is your part in this strange trio?"

"My name is Laura Adams, I'm obviously not a hobbit and not from the Shire." Laura replied

"Indeed. Where are you from? You have neither the looks of someone from Gondor nor of Rohan."

"Trust me when I say you wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"And what about your friend? The creature with an illfavoured look?"

Frodo hesitated again and Laura wondered what would happened if he told them about Gollum.

"There was no other." said the hobbit to both her and Sam's surprise. "We set out from Rivendell with eleven companions, one we lost in Moria. Two were my kin, a dwarf there was also and an elf."

"Four of them were also my friends." Laura added. There had been so much happening lately that she hadn't really had much time to think about the others, where they were and what they were up to. Or about Maggie and the baby. She missed them.

"There were two men as well. Aragorn son of Arathorn and Boromir of Gondor."

"You're a friend of Boromir?" asked Faramir

"Yes."

Silence fell, a very awkward silence until Faramir spoke again. "It will grieve you then to learn that Boromir is dead."

"What?!" Laura exclaimed "He's dead?!"

"How?" Frodo asked "When?"

"As one of his companions, I'd have hoped you could tell me." Faramir said coldly "His horn was washed up on the shore, cloven in two. He was my brother."

**To be continued…**

* * *

**I haven't had much focus on the hobbits lately so I thought this chapter would be dedicated to them. Next up! The battle of helm's deep! **


	12. Helm's Deep Part I

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing except my own characters.

**A/N: **What's this? Two chapters in one night? It must be magic! What can I say, I felt like writing and had plenty of inspiration! Oh, I'm having trouble coming up with a name for Maggie and Elrond's baby boy! Suggestions? Anyway, enjoy it!

**_Twelve_**

_Helm's Deep Part I _

**XXXXXXX**

There was a tension and almost a restlessness lingering in the air. Maggie could feel it to her very bones. It was a ghastly feeling and it made her feel powerless because she knew there was no way that she would be allowed to fight and quite frankly putting her baby at risk like that was a selfish act. If anything ever happened to her baby she would never be able to forgive herself. She hated the idea of having to standby and watch while the others, her friends, fought in battle. Maggie was absolutely terrified and she kept going over all the possible scenarios and outcomes of it all in her head until it nearly drove her crazy. After deciding to finally give up on sleep after having spent countless hours tossing and turning and counting and endless amount of sheep, Maggie went out for some fresh air. It was Gimli who found her sitting on the stairs by the gates of Helm's Deep.

"Ah," said the dwarf as he sat down next to her "I know that look."

"What look would that be Master Dwarf?" Maggie asked

"You're worried and scared about what will happen tonight. I have seen that look on many before."

"I just feel so useless Gimli. Nat and Felix are both going into battle and I'm just going to be sat on the other side of that door waiting, watching and not being able to do anything. I can't just watch my friends fighting and not knowing if they're going to come out alive or not.

Maggie felt the tears she'd been holding back streaming down her eyes.

"You're not useless lass," said Gimli "Granted, carrying a child makes things a little complicated but this is what we're fighting for. For Frodo, for Sam and for Laura. We are fighting for a Middle-Earth where your child can be safe from forces of Sauron. Your time to join in the battle will come, I'm sure of that. It is not this night but why should that mean that your part of this is less important?"

And of course, Maggie realised, that Gimli was right. However, it didn't make her any less terrified.

**XXXXXXX**

"Eowyn, I'm sorry I didn't see you." In fact, Felix had been off in his own world completely and didn't see Eowyn at all until he had walked right into her. Eowyn on the other hand, didn't seem to mind so much and smiled warmly at him.

"I think all our thoughts are a little preoccupied elsewhere." Eowyn replied

"Really? And where are your thoughts my Lady?" The words had slipped out of Felix's mouth before he'd had a proper chance to think them through and Eowyn almost seemed as if she'd been caught off guard. For a moment they stood there and it was just the two of them. Felix reached out for Eowyn's hand but when they were interrupted by voices and the sound of busy footsteps, Eowyn pulled back her hand.

"I, uhm, I best get these to the king and I'm sure you have things to do as well." she said and quickly left, leaving Felix frustrated with himself.

"Felix you complete and utter moron."

**XXXXXXX**

The rest of the day went by slowly. People were anxious and cranky and nobody could blame them really. Everyone abled man and even boy if he wasn't too young were commanded to fight because if they didn't they would all be seriously outnumbered to Sauron's army and the odds didn't look too great to begin with.

"Farmers, stable boys. These are not soldiers." said Aragorn as he looked around at the men around him, gathering their weapons and preparing themselves.

"Most of them have seen too many winters." Gimli told him

"Or too few. Look at them; they're frightened. I can see it in their eyes." Legolas added.

Everyone quieted down when Legolas spoke. Maggie and Felix exchanged glances and it was all very awkward. Legolas and Aragorn had a rather heated conversation in Elvish and both of them seemed quite annoyed with each other.

"Then I shall die as one of them!" Aragorn shouted angrily and left them. Legolas was about to go after him but Gimli stopped him.

"Let him go. Let him be." said the dwarf.

**XXXXXXX**

Nightfall came way too quickly and when Maggie found Aragorn it was him who sat on the steps where she had been that morning.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" she asked him.

The ranger shook his head "No. There are no words to say. The battle is inevitable; we can only wait to see how it will end."

"You are so old," said Maggie as she took Aragorn's hands. "And I mean that in a non offensive way of course. I just mean, you're wise. People look up to you. I look up to you."

"I know what you mean. You are my family and I love you."

Maggie was about to reply but she then noticed a boy watching them not too far away. He didn't look old, about thirteen or fourteen at the most. He was carrying a sword that seemed way to heavy for him to swing and he looked terrified.

"Give me your sword." Aragorn told him

The boy seemed to hesitate for a while but then walked over to them and handed Aragorn his blade.

"What is your name?" Aragorn asked

"My name is Hallas." he replied "The men are saying we will not live out the night. They say that it is hopeless."

"Oh god…" Maggie whispered quietly and felt the fear beginning to creep up on her.

Aragorn got up and swung the sword around a couple times and then gave it back to the boy and put his hand on his shoulder. "This is a good sword. Hallas, son of Hamna; there is _always_ hope."

_Yeah, _thought Maggie, _and that hope is you._

**XXXXXXX**

"Hey Nat!" Nat and Felix turned around to Maggie who came up towards them.

"There you are! How's Aragorn!"

"He's alright, he's good. I think it's just, you know…all of this. It's starting to get to him, to everyone." Maggie said

"Yeah, tell me about it." Felix said. He wasn't even going to deny the fact that he was terrified out of his senses. The three friends all stood in silence for a while. It was like they all wanted to say something but none of them knew where to begin. It was all suddenly starting become very real to them.

"Look I just want to say, before all this kicks off, before we go out there. I'm glad I came here and I'm glad I'm here with you." Felix told them. It felt like a massive heavy lump in his stomach and then he felt the tears gathering in his eyes.

"Oh Felix; we're going to live this out. We're going to survive. I'll be damned if I let some ugly arse orcs get the—"

Nat was cut off by the sound of a horn in the distance and the three of them exchanged confused glances.

"What was that?" Felix asked

"I don't know but something tells me it isn't orcs." Maggie replied

They hurried through the corridors of Helm's Deep and when they got outside they met up with Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Théoden and Eowyn; all of them gathered by the front gate and all of the with equally astonished expressions in their eyes as an army of elves marched up to the front gate.

"Oh. My. God." Nat whispered as she saw Haldir standing in front of them.

"How is this possible?" Théoden asked

"I bring word from Elrond of Rivendell," said Haldir and as he did his glance fell on Maggie. "An alliance once existed between Elves and Men, long ago we fought and died together. We come to honour that allegiance."

"Haldir!" Aragorn called out "_Mae Govannen_!" (Well met) Instead of offering a handshake Aragorn gave Haldir a big hug which seemed to catch the elf somewhat off guard but he welcomed it nonetheless.

"You are most welcome!" said Aragorn

"We are proud to fight alongside men once more."

"Maggie I bloody _love _your husband-to-be!" Nat exclaimed

Felix turned around to the two girls at this, and Nat whispered a small 'oops' under her breathe.

"Husband-to-be? You're getting _married_?"

"Yeah…about that."

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

**_Review? What did you think? _**


	13. Helm's Deep Part II

**Disclaimer**: In usual order I own nothing except my own characters.  
**A/N:** My essay is submitted and my exam is done so to celebrate I give you the next chapter! The paragraphs in _italics _indicate a flashback. Also, heads up for swearing in this chapter! Anyway, Enjoy!

**_Thirteen_**

_Helm's Deep Part II _

**XXXXXXX**  
_"You don't have to go with them Laura. You can stay here with us and I would take you with us to Minas Tirith where it is safe. The road you're headed for is extremely dangerous." _  
_"I know, but that's why I have to go with them. I made a promise and I don't intend on breaking it." Faramir seemed disappointed but at the same time he didn't ask again. One part of Laura couldn't deny that she would have loved to be somewhere safe but she would never be able to live with herself if she just left Frodo and Sam alone to Mordor. _

_"I hope we shall meet again." said Faramir and kissed Laura's hand before she left with Frodo, Sam and Gollum. _

**XXXXXXX**

"You're far away." Frodo's voice made Laura snap out of her thoughts and she turned around to her friends. The ringbearer looked at her with an expression of slight concern.

"I'm sorry, I was thinking about something else." Laura replied

"I've been meaning to ask you, why didn't you stay? When Faramir offered; you could be safe right now." It wasn't that Frodo didn't want to have Laura with them on their journey, in fact, the hobbit wouldn't have it any other way but it didn't make sense to him why someone would choose danger and almost certain death over the kind of safety that Faramir had so clearly offered her.

"Because if I stayed that means I would have given up, on you, on Sam on and on our friends. I'm seeing this one through all the way, whether or not I come out of it alive." Laura told them and she couldn't help but to wonder if they ever would come out of it alive.

**XXXXXXX**

_"You didn't think it was a good idea to let me know that you're getting married?!" _

_"Felix, calm down, it's not that big of a deal." Felix wasn't calming down, in fact he was causing quite a big scene about it but neither Maggie nor Nat could actually blame him for it. They'd moved away from the army of elves_

_"Calm down? Don't you tell me to calm the fuck down Margaret Spencer! I mean Jesus Christ; we're going to into battle any damn minute now! You didn't think I had a right to know that you're marrying Lord Elrond? This is exactly what we're fighting for! I mean hell Maggie, I want a chance to come out of this alive and be able to be at that wedding! What if I die tonight without knowing? Or without being able to be here when you're son is born!" _

_"You're not going to die tonight Felix. Not you. Not me. Definitely not tonight." Nat told him; of course part of her knew the odds were 50/50. _

_"But that's exactly it Nat; you don't know for sure. You can't. Some of us are going to die, it's inevitable. I'm just sorry Maggie that you don't seem to think I'm important enough to tell me these things. But then again, maybe that's why we broke up after all." _

_Gimli turned around to Nat. "I take it we've missed a detail here?" the dwarf asked and Nat just nodded. _

_Maggie wasn't sure what to say or what to do. She didn't want to have this argument, not here and definitely not at that moment but Felix wasn't really leaving her any choice in it. "Not important? How the hell can you possibly think that when you know exactly what you mean to me?! But shit me, Felix, stop being a goddamn drama queen because in case you had forgotten this is not about you or me anymore. It never has been. If you want to have that particular conversation we can have it later but then you better damned well make sure you're coming out of this alive." _

_"Oh you better believe it Mags; this conversation ain't over." _

**XXXXXXX**

_That, _Felix thought when Sauron's army came closer and closer to Helm's Deep, _is one hell of a big army._ His heart was beating so quickly that for a moment he was certain it would leap out of his chest. Felix looked at Nat who was stood next to him with the same terrified expression in her eyes and he took her hand.

"We'll be alright Nat." he told her although he wasn't entirely sure who he was trying to convince the most; Nat or himself. Felix felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Aragorn behind them.

"How are they?" Nat asked, referring to Maggie, Eowyn and the other women who had taken refuge within the walls.

"They'll be alright. They're all in good hands." said the Ranger

"Your friends are with you Aragorn." Legolas told him

"Let's hope they last the night." Gimli added with a little more scepticism in his voice.

**XXXXXXX**

_"Aragorn, what are you doing here you should be out there."_

_"I came to make sure you are alright. That was quite an argument."_

_Maggie, Eowyn along with all the other women and children were underground hiding, waiting for the battle start. Every single one of them were equally terrified and Eowyn was doing a good job holding down the fort. _

_"Oh between me and Felix, that's nothing. Don't worry, I'm alright; albeit a little scared and when I say a little I mean a lot but everyone is." Maggie told him _

_She gave him a long hug, part of her didn't want to let go but she knew she would have to. "Please be safe." she whispered _

**XXXXXXX**

"What's happening out there?" Gimli asked impatiently as he jumped up and down trying to catch a glimpse of the army on the other side of the wall

"Shall I describe it to you?" Legolas asked with a glint in his eyes "Or would you like me to find you a box." Nat and Felix assumed Gimli would be ticked off by this but instead, the dwarf laughed. It was actually a bit of a relief amidst all the tension. Until of course the orcs charged forward and the battle really began. It seemed like they were everywhere and Nat had her sword at the ready when the orcs climbed up the ladders and onto the wall.

"LEGOLAS!" Gimli bellowed "Two already!" he was referring to the number of orcs he had already killed.

"I'm on seventeen!" the elf countered proudly

"You can both screw yourselves!" said Felix as he just cut the head off an orc charging for him "I'm on twenty-one!"

Gimli and Legolas exchanged somewhat surprised glances but then grinned and carried on.

**XXXXXXX**

"Aragorn, behind you!" Aragorn quickly turned around and stabbed the orc Nat had warned him about and returned the favour as he decapitated the head off another one right behind Nat.

"Cheers." she told him

"You're welcome. You're doing quite well." Two orcs aimed for them so somehow they managed to kill two birds with one stone and it didn't take long before the orcs were lying dead in front of them.

**XXXXXXX**

"Riley! Merry!" Riley had been nodding off to sleep when Pippin called his name. It was hours later and the ents were still in council but as Treebeard came up to them it seemed they had finally made a decision about what they were going to do.

"We have agreed that you are not orcs!" Treebeard announce

"That's hardly anything new!" Riley had to admit that he was a little frustrated. The battle was closing up on them and he wanted to be able to take part in it.

"What about Saruman?" Merry asked "Have you come to a decision about him?" Clearly it was annoying him as much as it was Riley.

"Now don't be hasty Master Meriadoc." said Treebeard as if there was no trouble at all.

"Hasty? Our friends are out there! They need our help! They cannot fight this war on their own!"

"Easy Merry." Riley put a hand on the hobbit's shoulder. Although he could see where he was coming from because he agreed, Riley also thought there was no point in arguing with Treebeard.

"The war affects us all." said Treebeard "But you have to understand young hobbit. It takes a very long time to say anything in Entish and we never say anything unless it takes a long time to say."

Riley sighed and sat back down on the ground. "This is going to be a very long night."

**XXXXXXX**

"Twenty! Twenty-one! Twenty-two!"

"Thirty-four! Thirty-five!"

Nat raised an eyebrow as she heard Gimli, Felix and Legolas counting the number of orcs they had killed thus far. "You've got to be kidding me? You're keeping score?" she told them

"Hey I'm winning!" Felix told her triumphantly

Something then happened the caught all of their attention. There was a loud boom; an explosion and then Nat and Felix realised that parts of the wall had been blown to pieces. Then came the next thing; water flooding.

"Where's Aragorn?" Nat asked realising Aragorn wasn't there but when she looked around she saw he'd been cast over the wall and down to the ground. He didn't seem to be harmed though because he was up on his feet and charging the elves towards the orcs trying to get through to Helm's Deep.

"Legolas, what are you doing?" Nat asked

The elf was firing arrows and then suddenly he grabbed a shield, jumped up on then to Nat and Felix's awe, skateboarded down the stairs.

"Okay," Felix said "I'm officially a little bit in love with him."

**XXXXXXX**

Down in the room where Maggie and the others were hiding out, they could hear the orcs trying to break down the door and get through.

"Eowyn. If they break through….what do we do?" Maggie asked. She kept her voice in a whisper because she didn't want to frighten anyone else. Although she was positive they were all thinking the same thing.

"Don't worry Maggie; it won't come to that. We'll be safe. We'll all be safe." said Eowyn but even she could hear the doubt in her own voice.

**XXXXXXX**

Merry, Pippin and Riley all sat in silence and all of them equally disappointed. When Treebeard eventually told them about their final decision it wasn't what they had hoped for and neither of them knew what to do about it. Pippin was the first one to break the silence. "Maybe Treebeard is right Merry." he told his friend "We don't belong here. It's too big for us. What can we do? We've got the Shire. Maybe we should go home."

"Riley can't go home Pippin. He has to stay and the fires of Isengard will spread. The woods of Buckland will burn and all once green and good in this world will be gone. There won't be a Shire Pippin." Merry turned around Riley. "And besides; it wouldn't be fair if we left you. We're in this together; brothers in arms." A smile spread across Riley's face and right at that moment he couldn't help but to feel extremely proud of the two hobbits.

"He's right you know Pip. We need to do this and not just for the Shire. For Laura, Sam and Frodo. For all the others. We need to do our part."

They were right, Pippin realised, but some part of the young Peregrin Took wondered and thought that perhaps he should never have left Hobbiton to begin with.

**XXXXXXX**

**_To be continued…_**

**_Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please review! _**


	14. Heroes of the Shire

**Disclaimer: **I own naught. Except my own characters.

A/N: Oh hello again, I'm glad you found your way here. We're almost at the end of the two towers so here's the next chapter. Oh by the way, if there's anything in particular you'd like to see happening with the characters or maybe a specific pairing, let me know? Enjoy!

**_Fourteen _**

_Heroes of the Shire _

**XXXXXXX **

It seemed to Felix like the battle had gone on forever and he'd lost track of time. He was exhausted but ignored that and kept on fighting with all the energy he had left. No matter how many orcs they killed off it just seemed like more appeared and that they would never die. He wasn't sure who was leading the headcount competition between himself, Legolas and Gimli but before he could ponder further about that he saw a huge orc aiming for Haldir and it wasn't going to go well.

"HALDIR!" Felix shouted. The march-warden had turned around but the orc had caught him off guard and he'd fallen to the ground. He was expecting to get his head cut off any minute but instead he saw the orc's head rolling off on the ground and landed next to him. To his complete and utter surprise Haldir looked up and saw Felix in front of him, with a hand reached out to help him back up onto his feet which he gladly accepted.

"I owe you my life." said Haldir

"A pint of ale will do just fine. Come on, it's not over yet."

**XXXXXXX **

"Come on! We can take them!" Aragorn, Nat and Gimli had managed to sneak out of the orcs' sight and were standing on the other side of the bridge, watching as they were trying to break in.

"That's a long way to go." Nat whispered

"Aragorn, toss me." Both Nat and Aragorn looked at the dwarf sceptically, knowing how proud he was and that he hadn't wanted anyone to toss him in Moria.

"What?" Aragorn asked

"I cannot jump that far! Toss me!"

Aragorn nodded as both he and Nat grabbed hold of Gimli.

"Wait!" said the dwarf "Don't tell the elf!"

"Not a word." Aragorn promised. With those words Aragorn and Nat in combined strength tossed Gimli across to the bridge. If anything it was definitely a sight nobody wanted to forget.

"Are you ready?" Aragorn asked Nat

"Ready as I'll ever be." Knowing they were all going to be ridiculously sore in the morning, Aragorn and Nat both jumped over to the bridge and joined Gimli which wasn't something the orcs had expected.

**XXXXXXX **

"Aragorn! Look!" Aragorn turned his attention to Nat and when he saw where she was pointing a feeling of relief went through him. Just as he had been promised and told; it was Gandalf and Riders of Rohan riding down the slope and they knew then that the orcs had absolutely no chance of winning.

"Now _that_ is cool." Nat said

**XXXXXXX **

_Now this will be a story to tell my kids, _Riley thought. He was sat on Treebeard's shoulder next to Merry. Pippin was on the other side and they were throwing rocks and anything they could get hold of at the orcs down below. When the ents and had realised that part of Fangorn Forest had been burnt down and torn apart by Saruman that immediately changed their mind and they had in that moment decided to go to war. From a distance, Riley thought he could see Saruman himself looking out of the tower at the scene in front of him.

"Yeah you better believe it old man, you're not gonna win this one."

**XXXXXXX **

"The orcs! They're running into the forest!" someone said. The battle had finally began to subside and the remaining orcs had made chosen to run away whilst they still had the chance. Except when they got into the forest something happened and Felix swore it sounded like the orcs had literally been swallowed by the ground beneath them.

"Felix!" Felix turned around to Nat who practically jumped into his arms and hugged him, relieved and glad that they were both alive.

"I told you we'd survive didn't I?" Nat whispered

"You know Felix, stubborn as ever." It was Maggie who spoke and Nat and Felix turned around to her. Despite the fact that they'd argued before the battle broke it was like it didn't matter and the three of them all hugged. Waiting underground like that for hours was something Maggie never wanted to do again.

"I'm sorry about before; I was a dick and I didn't mean it." Felix said and Maggie could swear he was crying. "I love you. Both of you."

"He is a good and loyal friend," said Haldir who'd been listening. "Such traits are rare these days; you should both hold onto him."

Both Maggie and Nat stared at Haldir as if he were a ghost because in the story they knew (keep in mind that they had only seen the films) Haldir died.

"You're—" Maggie started but they were both cut off by Legolas who walked up to them. The elf-prince was holding his bow in his hand triumphantly and looked at Felix and then to Gimli who was sat on a dead orc smoking a pipe.

"Final count. Forty-two." said Legolas proudly.

"Forty-two." Gimli was laughing and there was clear sarcasm in his voice. "That's not bad for a pointy-eared elvish princeling. I myself am sitting pretty on forty-three."

"Dude; you're both shameful." Felix told them. He could not wait to see their face. "I got _forty-five_."

Maggie turned around to Nat. "What did I miss?"

**XXXXXXX **

"I wonder if we'll ever be put into songs and tales."

Laura and Frodo both turned around to Sam. It had been a long day and the walk ahead of them was even longer but there was something in all three them that made them feel more certain than before that they were going to make it to Mordor.

"What?" Frodo asked

"I wonder if people will ever say 'Let's hear about Frodo and the ring!' and I'll say 'Yes that's one of my favourite stories!'."

Then Laura who had been quiet up until then started humming a quiet tune that at that moment seemed to fit right in. "_Sing me a story of heroes of the Shire, muddling through brave and true; stubborn as bindweed and tough as old briar, never too showy or grand. Year after year they persevere, now and for always_."

The two hobbits looked at her, both of the equally surprised. "_Sing me a story of Frodo and the ring; fearless and bold_,"

Frodo chuckled"tired and cold,"

"_A sword at his side an elf-blade called Sting crossing a miserable land, wouldn't retreat, and just followed his feet, now and for always_."

"You left out one of the chief characters! I want to hear more about Sam! Samwise the Brave!" It was Frodo who cut in now. "_Sing me a tale of the bravest of them all; comrade and guide at my side, stout-hearted Sam who wouldn't let me fall holding my life in his hand, true to the end no finer friend, now and for always_."

The singing died out and Frodo looked at Sam. "Frodo wouldn't have gotten far without Sam."

"Now Mr. Frodo, you shouldn't make fun. I was being serious." Sam said quietly and Laura was sure she could see the hobbit blushing.

"So was I."

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_The song at the end is off the Lord of the Rings Musical which I thought fitted this chapter even if it's a little cheesy but then again Tolkien does add songs in his work. But yes, that's The Two Towers done, and next up is the Return of the King. I know I have something like 11 people following this fic so if all of you could leave a lovely little review I would be very happy! _**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** I own absolutely nothing, except my own characters.

**A/N**: I don't know about you guys but I just don't get tired of watching the trilogy. I've seen it so many times but it just gets better and better each time. It's what I put on if I've had a bad day, or in my case a bad week as this has been. The past few chapters have been quite dramatic and with lots of action so here's a different one which I hope you'll enjoy! Oh just a note by the way, in the books, they're actually on the journey for something like a year and a bit more but the timeline is quite difficult to explain in the fic especially what with Maggie's pregnancy but hopefully it all makes sense anyway. Also, this is a really long chapter so yeah!

**_Fifteen _**

**XXXXXXX**

"Welcome my lords, and of course my ladies, to Isengard!"

"Riley! You sneaky little sod! We've been running cross country for days, _weeks_ looking for you lot, nearly died at it and here you are bloody smoking!"

"And feasting!" Gimli added. Gandalf simply rolled his eyes and muttered 'hobbits!' under his breath but it was indeed a relief to see them alive and in one piece. It was such a joyful sight that nobody could really be annoyed with them. Felix, Nat and Maggie all dismounted the horses they'd been sat on and Riley waded through the water to them.

"Maggie; you're absolutely _huge_." he told her as he looked at her very pregnant stomach.

"Ladies and gentlemen I give you my cousin; the charmer."

Aragorn couldn't help but to laugh. "Some things never change."

Maggie threw her arms around Riley and he pulled her in for a long hug. It felt like they hadn't seen in each other in a life time.

"It's good to see you mate." Riley said to Felix

"Oh come here you." Felix said and hugged him just as much as he had Nat and Maggie. It was a happy reunion; the four of them were together but it still wasn't the same without Laura. They all knew that but nobody really dared saying anything about it; all they could do was keep their hopes and keep fighting.

"I can honestly say I'm happy two see the two of you!" Nat said to Merry and Pippin

"Well my lovely Natalie; the feeling is very much mutual." said Pippin and bowed

"We're under orders from Treebeard! Who has taken over management of Isengard!" Merry told them proudly. The two hobbits and Riley all got on the horses and when they reached the tower of Orthanc they were met by Treebeard. Maggie looked up at the giant Ent and wasn't sure whether to be scared or impressed.

"Whoa…"

"Young Master Gandalf," Treebeard's voice boomed loudly "I'm glad you've come."

"Young?" Felix said "He thinks Gandalf is _young_?"

"Wood and water, stock and stone I can master. But there is a wizard to manage here." Treebeard continued

They all knew what that meant. "Saruman…" Nat whispered. Immediately, it made her think of his words in Rohan when he had taken over Théoden's body and threatened to hurt the baby.

"Be careful," Gandalf warned them "Even in defeat Saruman is dangerous."

"Don't worry Maggie," Aragorn said "He won't hurt either of you."

"Let's just have his head and be done with it!" Gimli said eagerly

"You know what, I agree with Gimli. Surely, it would be easy to kill him now that he's defenceless and locked up?" Nat said

"No!" Gandalf protested "We need him alive. We need him to talk!"

"Well that should be interesting."

As expected, Saruman eventually came out to the balcony with his staff in his hand and looked down at them.

"You have fought many wars and made peace afterwards Théoden King," said the once great wizard. It was obvious, Riley thought, that he was scared. "Can we not take council together as we once did my old friend? Can we not have peace?"

"He's annoying me already." Riley said "Does he really think that's going to work?"

"We shall have peace when you have answered for the burning of the Westfold and the children that lie dead there!" Théoden's voice had grown dark and angry. "We shall have peace when the bodies' of the soldiers are avenged!"

Saruman wasn't happy about this answer and he made no attempt in hiding this. "What do you want Gandalf Greyheim? Let me guess; the key of Orthanc?"

"Okay, now he's annoying me too." Maggie agreed.

Saruman's voice now turned into a sinister laughter than sent chills down Maggie's spine. "Tell me, how is your child my dear? How is your son? Have you picked out names for him yet or have you decided to give into his inevitable fate?" said the wizard

"Your treachery has already cost many lives Saruman!" Gandalf told him "Many more are now at risk but you can save them! You are deep in the enemy's council!"

"So you've come here for information? Ah, I have some for you; you're all going to die."

Gandalf, clearly and obviously annoyed rode forward but Saruman continued. "Tell me; what words of comfort did you give the Halfling before you sent him to his doom?"

"I've heard enough!" said Gimli "Legolas, shoot him!"

Legolas was about to do so but Gandalf stopped him but before anyone had a chance to say anything else, Saruman sent a fireball from his staff which surrounded Gandalf but the wizard was unharmed by it. Instead, he just stood there calmly as though nothing had happened.

"Saruman! Your staff is broken!" and just like the Saruman's staff snapped and blew up into thousands of small pieces leaving the wizard truly unarmed.

Felix leaned in to whisper to Riley. "This is more awesome than any 'epic rap battles of history' episode ever."

"Grima!" Théoden called out when he saw Wormtongue sneaking up behind Saruman "You need not follow him! You can be the man you were before! You can—" But it was too late. Grima stabbed Saruman in the back and the wizard fell dead and lifeless into the water below and shortly after Wormtongue himself died from Legolas' arrow.

"We need to send word to all our allies; to every corner of Middle-Earth. The enemy is moving." Gandalf to Théoden and the king nodded in agreement.

"The filth of Saruman is being washed away!" Treebeard said.

"Pippin!" Maggie called out as the young hobbit had got off the horse and picked up the palantir Saruman had dropped into the water.

"Peregrin Took," said Gandalf "I'll take that my lad, quickly now."

Pippin hesitated for a moment and Riley could see that the curiosity still lingered in him, but the hobbit seemed to give into reason and handed the palantir back to Gandalf and after that they finally rode back to Rohan.

**XXXXXXX**

Being back in Edoras was amazing and Nat was looking forward to having an evening of just relaxing and not worrying about going into battle. The final battle had yet to come of course and they would always be worrying about Frodo, Sam and Laura just for that night.

"He keeps looking at you." Maggie said. She meant Eomer was kept giving Nat glances but then looked away again. It was really rather adorable, Maggie thought.

"I don't know, it makes me feel a little guilty." Nat said. She did like Eomer, there was no denying it but she also knew that if Boromir was alive, he would be there now.

"Nat, if anything, Boromir would have wanted you to be happy and Eomer can obviously do that for you. I mean, he's obviously head of heels for you and if you're really going to deny that you like him then that makes you a really bad liar. And anyway, at least some of us can actually _have_ sex so you better go and enjoy it while you can."

"You really think—"  
"Yes! Now go!"

Nat got up but before she headed over to Eomer she turned around Maggie again. "You realise the boys are aiming at get absolutely hammered tonight right?"

"Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to it."

**XXXXXXX**

Riley found Felix sat in corner by a table with a jug of ale in his hand watching Eowyn laughing and talking someone over at the other side of the room. "Okay, own up mate, the girls have been filling me in on gossip. Do you or don't you fancy her?"

Felix sighed almost as if he was admitting defeat. "Okay yes, I do, ever since I first read the books. But she can't take her eyes off Aragorn so what the hell am I supposed to do Riley?"

"That's not really a problem is it since we all know Aragorn only has eyes for Arwen and vice versa anyway." Riley said, he was in a brilliant mood, some of it due to the amount alcohol in his system. "Put down that pint, then get off your lazy arse, man the hell up and go bloody speak to her or so help me god I will _make_ you. You _know_ I will." Felix groaned and cursed because he knew Riley was right. He put down the jug, took a deep breath and then walked across the floor over to Eowyn.

"Apparently we're both in the relationship council business." Maggie said when she sat down next to Riley

"Ah! My dear sweet baby cousin; that's part of the fun isn't it?" Riley said as he put his arm around Maggie.

"You're really drunk right now aren't you?"

"What can I say, the night is young."

**XXXXXXX**

"Natalie, I was wondering where—" Eomer started but Natalie wouldn't let him finish. Instead, very much to the horse master's surprised she wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. It was a kiss that Eomer definitely didn't protest to and neither of them seemed to care that people could see them.

"Not quite what I was expecting." said Eomer when they'd broken off the kiss

"Is that a good or a bad thing?" Natalie asked nervously

"Oh, it's very much a good thing."

"I hoped so. Let's go somewhere." She took his hand and the two of them sneaked off away from the rest of the party.

**XXXXXXX**

The night was merry; people were in good spirits and Riley found himself clapping along the Merry and Pippin singing and dancing on the table. _"Oh you can search far and wide you can drink the whole town dry but you'll never find a beer so brown as the one we drink in our hometown. You can drink your fancy ale, you can drink 'em by the flagon but the only brew for the brave true." _

For a mere moment Pippin stopped singing and turned around to Gandalf who was stood across the room. _"_Pippin!" Merry said which made the hobbit snap out of his thoughts.

_"But the only brew for the brave and true; comes from the Green Dragon!"_

"You know, we can do that." Felix told Riley "You remember 'the cat and the moon'?"

Pippin, who had heard them speaking stood with his arms crossed and with a smile on his face. "Are you telling me, Master Felix, that you can sing and better than a hobbit of the Shire?"

"Absolutely!"

"Really?" Merry joined in "Then by all means do show."

"It's a deal."

**XXXXXXX**

"So," Legolas was looking at the jugs in front of him and at Gimli "It's a drinking game?"

"Aye!" Gimli already hade his beard dripped in ale "Last one standing wins!"

"Oh dear…" Maggie said. She turned to Aragorn who rolled his eyes "This should be good."

"I recall a certain drinking game we had in Imladris with you and Riley." Legolas said with a smile.

"You're never going to let me forget that night, are you?"

"Not a chance _aier_," Legolas told her with a smirk.

"Maggie." Aragorn put a hand on Maggie's shoulder and then gestured towards Riley and Felix who were now standing on the table singing instead of Merry and Pippin.

Maggie giggled and shook her head, not even knowing what to say.

_"Called by the fiddle to the middle of the muddle where the cow with a caper sent the small dog squealing. Moon in a fuddle went to huddle by the griddle but he slipped in a puddle and the world went reeling!" _People were clapping along and by now Merry and Pippin had decided to also join in after all and it was turning into quite the party. _"Downsides went up! Hey! Outside went wide as the fiddle played a twiddle and moon slept till Sterrenday! Upsides went west – hey! Broadsides went boom! With a twiddle on the fiddle in the middle by the griddle and the moon slept till Sterrenday!" _Everyone applauded and Maggie saw Eowyn across the room laughing, obviously enjoying herself

**XXXXXXX**

Many jugs of ale later, Gimli was hardly capable of standing and Legolas acted as if he had hardly had anything to drink at all. It was very obvious which of them was going to wake up with a massive hangover in the morning. Some part of Maggie was glad that she couldn't drink.

"I feel something…a slight tingle in my fingers," said Legolas "I think it's affecting me!"

"Wow, you're really lightweight aren't you _mellonin_?" Maggie said sarcastically

"What did I say?" Gimli stood up "He can't hold his liquor!" But obviously the dwarf had spoken too soon because seconds later he'd passed out flat on the floor.

**XXXXXXX**

"What's on your mind dear one?" It was Gandalf who'd walked up to Maggie. She'd left the party inside for some fresh air and to clear her mind.

"I'm worried about Laura. I can't help but to feel a little guilty because if we hadn't been to Middle-Earth before then she wouldn't be out there, with Frodo and Sam." she replied

"This was always meant to be your fate." the wizard told her "Even your first coming to Middle-Earth all those years ago. Being here is your destiny as much as it is Laura's to be with Frodo and Sam. They will be alright."

"Yeah. I hope so."

"Now, tell me about really worrying you?"

Maggie sighed. "I'm scared that Saruman is right about the baby. Even you must know there is a small chance that he's not going to survive this."

"Saruman uses fear as a weapon but you are much stronger than he is and besides, your son is a son of Elrond is he not? If anything, that should tell us he'll live through this."

Maggie hoped Gandalf was right but she decided to try and not let it trouble her. "Now, we'd better go inside, I have a feeling the night is going to get a little more interesting." said Gandalf with a glint in his eyes.

He had no idea.

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

**_Three chapters in a row on the same day? This is what post-exam period does to me, besides this is when all the excitement start and I have so many things planned for the return of the King. Thank you so much for the reviews! I hope you liked this chapter! _**


	16. Splitting Up Again

**Disclaimer: **I own naught except my own characters.

**A/N: **So I live in a valley in the middle of nowhere in the welsh countryside and because it snowed last night the roads have closed and we're more or less snowed in. But this is a good thing because I don't have lectures to go to so I can literally stay in and write all day.

**_Sixteen_**

_Splitting Up Again _

**XXXXXXX**

It was in the early hours of morning when the party finally died out and everyone had gone to sleep (or in some cases, no names mentioned, passed out). Nat had left Eomer asleep and sneaked out because she hadn't wanted to wake up. Her night had been amazing and there was no doubt in her mind that Maggie was going to want to hear all about it. Meduseld was quiet and it didn't seem like anyone was awake just yet and when Nat tip-toed into the sleeping hall, she was greeted by Gimli's loud snoring and couldn't help but to smile to herself.

Nat jumped when she suddenly saw Pippin sitting straight up and getting out of bed. "Pippin!" she whispered

It had obviously woken Merry up because he looked at Nat and then at Pippin who was walking quietly across the room, with an almost scared look in his eyes. "What are you doing?" Merry asked but they got no reply.

Merry and Nat watched, not really knowing what to do. Pippin walked up to Gandalf and found to surprise that the wizard was sleeping with his eye s wide open. It made him hesitate for a moment but then, carefully, the young hobbit managed to take the palantir which was under Gandalf's arm.

"Pippin! Are you mad?!" Merry asked

"Put it back, if Gandalf finds out…" Nat added. This was not going to go down well but Pippin didn't seem to be bothered.

"I just want to look at it." he told them. Pippin took the palantir out of the cloth and seemed almost hypnotised by it while both Nat and Merry were terrified. Then suddenly something happened; Pippin's hands seemed glued to the palantir and it started glowing whilst the hobbit closed his eyes and desperately tried to let go off it.

"Gandalf! Gandalf wake up!" Nat shouted with panic in her voice "Pippin's in trouble!"

And suddenly, to her horror, Nat found the palantir stuck to her own hands because she had tried taking it off Pippin. She could hear Sauron's voice speaking to her and she saw images in her mind of a white tree burning but she also saw something different; something that rooted a fear in her that she would never be able to forget. Then; just like that, she snapped out of it because Aragorn had taken the palantir off her but it rolled out of his hands when Gandalf finally caught it.

"Nat!" Riley called out. The commotion had woken everybody up. "Jesus Christ are you alright?"

"Yeah….I'm fine. But…Pippin!" she said

Pippin was laid on the floor, seemingly unconscious and the wizard walked up to him, mumbled a few words which then made Pippin wake up again.

"….Gandalf." he wept "Forgive me…"

"Look at me." Gandalf demanded coldly. By now, Legolas, Gimli and Felix had gathered around them. "What did you see?"

"A tree…there was a white tree."

"In a courtyard of stone." Nat said. It was exactly what she had seen too. She could feel all eyes on her and suddenly felt very nervous because she didn't know what was going to happen next.

"It was dead. The city was burning." Pippin whispered, his voice still shaking

"Minas Tirith. Is that what you saw too?" Gandalf asked. Nat just nodded in reply and didn't dare saying anything else.

"What else did you see?"

"I saw…him. I could hear his voice in my head." said the hobbit

"And what did you tell him? SPEAK!"

"He asked me my name but I didn't answer."

"And what did you tell him of Frodo and the Ring?"

**XXXXXXX**

"There was no lie in Pippin's eyes. A fool, but an honest fool he remains." They were all gathered with King Théoden, explaining the events of earlier that morning.

"He told Sauron nothing of Frodo and the Ring. We've been strangely fortunate; Pippin saw in the palantir a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Sauron aims to strike towards Minas Tirith. However it is also most _un_fortunate that Natalie should have been dragged into it as well."

"What does it mean? What do we do now?" Nat asked.

"Sauron's defeat at Helm's Deep showed one thing; the heir of Elandil has come forth and that men are not as weak as he supposed." Gandalf was looking at Aragorn as he said this. "There is courage still; strength even enough perhaps to challenge him."

"And _hope_." Maggie said, she meant it in both the figurative and literal meaning as she looked at Aragorn who was stood next to her. "We have hope."

"Yes Maggie; we have hope." Gandalf agreed "And Sauron fears this; he will not have the people of Middle-Earth unite under one banner. He will raise Minas Tirith to the ground before he sees the king return."

"But that won't stop us will it?" said Felix, he had been quiet for some time trying to figure it all out. "We've proven to him that we're a hell of a lot stronger than he is and that we're not going to give up. I mean hell, we had Elves come to join us in Helm's Deep and that hasn't happened for thousands of years? Surely Sauron must realise that he doesn't stand a chance. Not if we stand together."

"Very poetic bro." Riley said but he knew that Felix had a point. "The question still stands, what do we about at this point in time?" he asked

"If the beacons of Gondor are lit," said Gandalf "Rohan must be ready for war."

Gandalf turned to Théoden, waiting for the king to say something but what he said wasn't exactly what they had hoped for.

"Tell me, why should we come to the aid of those who did not come to ours?"

Maggie couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all they had been through, after the battles and "Are you kidding me right now? _That's_ your answer? Is that what you're going to tell your people when Sauron eventually comes here? Because, believe me he _will_."

"You have not been in this land long enough to know the things of which I speak. What do we owe Gondor?" Théoden replied

Maggie was about to respond with something but Aragorn shook his head, as to warn her to be quiet.

"I will go." Aragorn said "They must be warned!"

"They will be. Understand this; things are now in motion that cannot be undone. I ride for Minas Tirith. " the wizard replied and as he said this Gandalf looked at both Natalie and Pippin "But I will not be going alone."

And in that moment they both suddenly realised what was ahead of them.

**XXXXXXX**

"I can't believe we're splitting up again." Maggie said. She was outside with Felix and Riley walking towards the stables to say goodbye to Nat and Pippin. They had only been together a little while and now they were going separate ways again and the gods only knew what would happen. In the distance, the three friends saw Nat saying goodbye to Eomer before she walked up to them.

"Are you alright?" Maggie asked

Nat nodded as she dried away the tears that were running down her cheek. "Yeah, I'll see him again. Soon. I'm sure of it. And you guys too." she said. They all hugged and even though they knew they would see each other again, it was pointless to hide the fear of what would happen if they didn't.

"Nat; I'm sorry." Pippin whispered as they were getting ready to mount the horses. Pippin was riding on Shadowfax with Gandalf and Nat was riding on a brown mare.

"It's alright Pippin, I'm not angry with you." She told him and it was the truth. "It's not your fault."

"But it _is_ my fault Nat. I was stupid and you tried to save me and I've put you in danger too. Now you have to leave your friends."

"Pippin, _you're_ my friend too remember? We'll be alright in this. Besides, we have Gandalf."

The wizard helped Pippin up on Shadowfax.

"How far is Minas Tirith?" he asked

"Three days ride as the Nazgul flies; and we better hope we don't have one of those on our tail." Gandalf replied as he mounted Shadowfax

They were all stood in the stables and there was a strange feeling about it all; Nat couldn't explain it but it felt a bit like everything was going to change again.

"Here," Merry handed Pippin a leather package and when Pippin unfolded it he could see it was the last of the Longbottom leaf. "I know you've run out. You smoke too much Pip."

"We'll see each other soon won't we?" Pippin said. Merry didn't reply; instead he looked at Gandalf and the wizard said nothing either.

"Won't we?" Pippin repeated

"I don't know…" Merry replied "I don't know what's going to happen."

"Oh god I'm crying now." Maggie said and Legolas pulled her in for a hug. Seeing the hobbits being split up after everything they had been through and knowing how close they were was painful to watch because they could all see the sadness in their eyes.

"Merry…"

"Run Shadowfax." Gandalf told the horse "Show us the meaning of haste."

"Bye…" Nat whispered

"Merry!" They rode off all three of them and Maggie, Riley and Felix knew that everything was different.

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

**_What did you think? This is this bit in the film that always makes me cry time after time. I hope you like it anyway! Please review! _**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N: **Like I said. No Uni work = lots of writing. Let's see what Laura, Frodo and Sam have been up to lately shall we? Enjoy it!

**_Seventeen _**

**XXXXXXX**

Laura had lost count of how long they had been walking since they left Osgiliath. In fact, time in general suddenly seemed unimportant and she was barely sure of what day it was anymore. She wondered how Maggie was doing with the baby and what the others were up to at the moment. Most of all she wondered if they were thinking about her, Frodo and Sam. She could hear her stomach rumbling and realised Sam and Frodo must've heard it too.

"It must be getting close to tea time." Sam said, he sounded tired "Or at least it would be if we were in decent places."

"I would kill for a KFC meal." Laura said, mostly to herself.

"But we are not in decent places hobbitsess…" Gollum hissed as if he was very pleased about it. He was leading the through bushes and Laura hoped he knew where they were going. Ever since they met Gollum she'd had a feeling in her gut that told her something wasn't right but she trusted Frodo's judgement. The path narrowed and they seemed to be entering a different kind of terrain when Frodo suddenly stopped.

"Mr Frodo, what is it?" Sam asked

Frodo was quiet for a while. "It's just a feeling." he said "I don't think I'll be coming back."

"Yes you will!" Sam said as he walked up to the ringbearer "Of course you will! That's just morbid thinking. We're going there and back again; just like Mr Bilbo."

_Oh Sam, _Laura thought. She could never understand how he was always able to keep his spirits up no matter what. They kept walking and soon came by gigantic stone statues of men which made Laura stare in awe.

"I think these lands were once part of the kingdom of Gondor." Frodo told them.

"Mr Frodo, Laura. Look!" They turned around to Sam and saw that the sun had shone through which made it look like the king was wearing a crown.

"Come on hobbits! Mustn't stop now! This way!" Gollum told them

**XXXXXXX**

_Maggie had slept uneasily for the past two nights after Nat and Pippin's departure. She'd been haunted by vivid, dark dreams. She dreamt of Frodo, Laura and Sam crossing the road to Mordor. She saw Pippin and Natalie in Minas Tirith and there was a massive battle with many dead. She saw her friends fighting and the Black of Gates of Mordor opening. _

_And then she saw her cousin, lifeless, dead on the ground. _

**XXXXXXX**

Maggie's screaming had woken everyone up. Legolas was the first one into the room, shortly followed by Aragorn and the others.

"Maggie; wake up aier, it was only a dream." Legolas was whispering words in Elvish trying to calm her down and eventually Maggie did wake up.

"Riley…where's Riley?"

"Easy darling," Riley told "I'm right here."

Maggie put her arms around her cousin "Thank god you're alive."

Legolas and Aragorn exchanged worrying glances and Riley couldn't help but to feel a little worried himself.

"Maggie," Aragorn asked "What did you dream?"

**XXXXXXX**

Maggie had refused to tell them everything, partly because she didn't want to believe it herself so she'd told them bits and pieces. Quickly afterwards, Théoden had asked to Aragorn and the others (Maggie was ordered to rest) for a council because this was worrying.

"Lord Elrond has the gift of foresight, as does all his children." Aragorn said after having explained the incident "It could well be possible that the baby has inherited his father's gift."

"That would explain the dreams." Riley said, he sat down on a chair and ran his hands through his hair.

"Frightening as it may be for her; they are still mere dreams." Obviously, he didn't seem to be quite as convinced in foresight as the others, which both Riley and Felix thought was well strange because of everything they had been through. "Until such time that they come true there is naught we can do about it and we will go on. We ride for Dunharrow as according to plan." said Théoden

**XXXXXXX**

"Eomer." Eomer had obviously been in his own thoughts, and Maggie wasn't surprised at that. He turned around to her and bowed, courteous as always. She'd been trying to rest but going back to sleep seemed impossible and to be honest she didn't really want to go to sleep at all.

"Maggie; how is the baby?" he asked

"He's fine; well, at least I think so. He's actually kicking away a lot." she replied.

"And how are you? I heard you've had quite the morning."

"Yeah…I'm good. They were only nightmares." Maggie wasn't really sure who she was trying to convince the most, herself or Eomer but he said nothing more of it.

"And anyway, I was wondering the same thing about you. How are you? With Nat being in Minas Tirith and all."

"I miss her," Eomer replied "I cannot deny that. But she is with Gandalf so I have no doubt that she will be fine."

_Yeah, _Maggie thought, _I really hope so. _

**XXXXXXX**

After having met Denethor in person, Nat despised him even more than she had before. He was a ghastly person and in her opinion he seriously suffered from some serious kind of God Complex.

"So, I imagine this is some kind of ceremonial possession. I mean, they don't actually expect me to do any fighting do they?" Within being there for less than a day, Pippin had already offered himself in the service of the steward but Denethor hadn't seemed the least bit grateful about it which annoyed Nat more than anything. She could understand he was upset about the death of Boromir, they all were, but it was no excuse to act like a total git.

"You're in the service of Steward now, you'll have to do as you're told!" Gandalf told him "Peregrin Took, guard of the steward." he muttered under his breath.

"Why is he like that?" Nat asked as she leaned against the railing next to Pippin "Denethor, I mean."

"Denethor has a whole lot of issues my dear Natalie. He lost hope long ago and in his eyes there is only darkness in the world and nothing worth fighting for. This is why we must prove him wrong." said the wizard

"There are no stars anymore. Is it time?" Nat looked up at the sky and saw that Pippin was right. It was just black, no stars were twinkling and she couldn't seen any constellations at all.

"Yes." Gandalf replied

"It's so quiet." Nat whispered and it was an uneasy kind of silence that sent chills down her spine.

"It's the deep breath before the plunge." said Gandalf

"I don't want to be in a battle, but waiting on the edge of one I can't escape is even worse." Pippin told them "Is there any hope Gandalf; for Frodo, Laura and Sam?"

The wizard fell silent for a few moments, as if he was thinking very hard about what he was going to tell them. "There never was much hope Pippin; only a fool's hope."

"Still," said Nat "It's better than not having any hope at all."

"Aye. The enemy is ready. His full strength is gathered. Not only orcs but men as well; mercenaries from the coast. All will answer Mordor's call. This will be the end of Gondor as we know it; here the hammer fall will strike the hardest. If the river is taken, if the garrison of Osgiliath falls, the last defence of this city gone."

"But we have the White Wizard!" Pippin said, suddenly cheering up a little "That's got to count for something right!"

"Sauron has yet to reveal his deadliest servant,"

Nat knew exactly who it was the wizard meant.

_The witch king of Angmar, _she thought to herself. And hell if she wasn't scared of him.

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_Like it? Love it? Hate it? Please review and let me know!_**


	18. Off Into Mordor We Go

**Disclaimer: **I still own nothing except my own characters.

**A/N: **You guys are awesome! Thank you so much for your reviews, they keep me going! Not much to say about this chapter, enjoy it!

**_Eighteen _**

_Into Mordor We Go _

** XXXXXXX**

"Laura, I don't mean to pry I'm just a little curious, but, you have a family a right? I mean, obviously you have a family I just mean, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Sam asked. Laura could see him blushing too which made her chuckle a little. _Family, _she thought. They'd never talked about it before; in fact she hadn't even asked Frodo and Sam if they had family back in the Shire. Sam talked so much about the Shire and Hobbiton that Laura was really curious to see it some day, if they ever made it to Mordor and back alive. She shuddered and couldn't believe she hadn't actually thought that to be a possibility.

"It's alright Sam, I do have family," she replied "I have two older brothers; Sam and Martin and then they have their wives with kids." Actually, thinking about the reminded Laura that her youngest niece, Isabella, would be turning five soon.

"You're an aunt then?" Frodo said, an excitement rang in his voice that neither Laura nor Sam had heard in a very long time. "That's amazing!" said the hobbit

"What about you Sam? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"  
"No, it's just me and my old Gaffer living in Bagshot Row." Sam replied "I've always wanted siblings though; I like the idea of being an older brother."

"How about being a father when you and Rosie get married?" Frodo said and Sam turned around to his friend for a moment didn't say anything.

"You think Rosie would like to marry me someday Mr. Frodo?"

"Of course she will! You just need to pluck up the courage to ask her."

They continued walking and both Frodo and Laura giggled when they heard Sam mumbling to himself with a smile on his face.

"Rosie Gamgee. Well if I ever…." Sam's voice suddenly died out when they reached something that looked like a massive fortress in front of them. There was a darkness about it that they could all feel.

"The dead city," Gollum whispered, obviously terrified "Very nasty place. Full of….enemies. Quick! We must go or they'll see." Without a word they quickly ran across the road and to the foot of the mountain. Laura couldn't help but to stare at the massive gates of the city and she really didn't want to think about whom it was that lived there.

"Come away! Look we have found it! The way into Mordor! The secret steps!" Laura, Frodo and Sam all stared at the very, very step set of stairs leading all the way up the mountain and seemed to never end.

"You have got to be kidding me." Laura said "There has to be another way into Mordor, that's suicide!"

However, what followed in the next few seconds made Laura change her mind and all of them immediately started climbing.

**XXXXXXX**

"Holy shit! What the hell was that?"

"Gandalf?" Pippin, Nat and Gandalf were all staring at the green flash or whatever the hell it was, that shot up right up into the sky from Mordor. Nat immediately ruled out the 'strange weather phenomena' theory and decided it could only mean one thing; the enemy were on the move. Pippin stood next to her, terrified and shaking and so the wizard put a protective arm around the hobbit as though to tell him that it would be alright. Somehow, Nat thought, it had all suddenly become so very real.

"We've come to it at last," said the wizard and just for one moment Nat could swear that there was fear even in Gandalf's voice. "The great battle of our time; the board is set, the pieces are moving. You two must come with me immediately."

Nat and Pippin exchanged somewhat confused glances but nevertheless they did as they were told and followed the wizard back down a set of stairs and they walked quick paced through the city.

"Peregrin Took my lad; there is a task now to be done; another opportunity for one of the Shire folk to prove their great worth!" said Gandalf

The wizard glanced up and Nat saw that he was looking at the beacons of Minas Tirith.

"You must not fail me." Gandalf said.

Pippin immediately understood what he needed to do. He nodded and then he ran quick as he could towards the beacon and Nat could only hope that he wouldn't be caught.

**XXXXXXX**

"Felix, you know what I've just realised?"

"That you actually miss watching crappy shows on TV like Jeremy Kyle and Made in Chelsea? I know I sure as hell do and I don't even like those shows to begin with." Felix had to admit that he missed simple pleasures like being able to spend a whole day sat in front of his laptop, looking at meaningless clips on YouTube or playing Halo on his Xbox.

"Made in Chelsea is a hell of a lot of better than the only way is Essex but no, that wasn't I was going for." Maggie replied. They were both sat outside more or less rolling their thumbs because until word had come back from Gandalf, there was nothing they could do and it was doing both their heads in.

"Well then I've got nothing so go ahead, shoot." said Felix

"There are no proper hospitals in Middle-Earth which means when I give birth there will be no doctors around to give me anaesthetics." It was a very valid point that Felix hadn't thought about. Childbirth was probably painful enough as it was even with painkillers so he couldn't even imagine what it would be like to have to give birth without it.

"You'll be alright Mags; there'll be plenty of people around to take care of you and how do you know that there won't be some kind of magical way to ease the pain? Either way, you're strong, you'll pull through it."

"I'm terrified."

"With all rights too but trust me when I say you'll be alright and you're going to give birth to a perfectly healthy little boy. And anyway, I have something that'll cheer you up."

"A Ben & Jerry's Half Baked ice-cream?"

"Even better."

Felix reached out of his pocket and got out his iPod. He'd mentioned having it in Moria but they had all been through so much that they hadn't even considered bringing it out until now. The fact that it was there and not a single scratch on it was in both Maggie's and Felix's eye as much of a miracle as anything.

"Oh my god, it still has batteries?" Maggie asked

Riley nodded. "It's been off for the whole journey so yeah, 100%."

Maggie couldn't even explain how happy she was at that moment. It may just be a small iPod but there was still music in it and it was music from their world. Music from home.

"I could kiss you!" Maggie said "But I won't because you know, that would be a little awkward."

"So what shall we listen to first? I have something like 4GB worth of music so we can—" Felix was suddenly interrupted by Aragorn who was running through Edoras past them up the stairs. Maggie and Felix looked at each other, quickly put the iPod away and hurried after Aragorn into the great hall where the king was gathered and shortly afterwards Riley and the others joined them

"The beacons of Minas Tirith!" Aragorn called "The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid."

"They did it," Riley said "They really did it."

There was silence for a moment whilst everyone waited for Théoden to decide what to do about it.

"And Rohan will answer!" said the King "Muster the Rohirrim!"

_Finally, _Maggie thought with relief.

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_Like it? Review please!_**


	19. Three Becomes Two

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my own characters.

**A/N: **So things are starting to happen and we're also getting closer and closer to Maggie's labour! Exciting times! I still have a good few things planned and quite a few surprises ahead! Here's the next chapter! Enjoy it!

**_Nineteen _**

_Three Becomes Two _

**XXXXXXX**

"Look! It's the White Rider!" Nat ran upstairs and pushed her way through to the crowd that was standing by the balcony looking out over the fields. Nazguls were chasing what was left of the garrison from Osgiliath all the way back to Minas Tirith but Gandalf was riding out with Pippin. A bright white light shone from Gandalf's staff which seemed to scare off the Nazguls and because of this they were all able to get back to the city safely. Nat ran back down the stairs and caught up with Pippin and Gandalf. She could only assume that the man speaking to Gandalf at that moment was Faramir.

"Mithrandir! They broke our defences!" Faramir's voice was panicked "They've taken the bridge and the West Bank!"

"It is as Lord Denethor predicted!" said another man "Long has he foreseen this doom!"

"Foreseen and done nothing!" Gandalf replied angrily

Faramir seemed like he was about to say something but his eyes fell on Pippin and then on Nat.

"This is not the first time you've seen a Halfling, nor someone like Natalie." Faramir shook his head and at this confirmation both Nat and Pippin's faces lit up.

"You've seen Frodo and Sam!" Pippin said

"And Laura! Oh thank god!" Nat said

"Where?" Gandalf asked "When?!"

"In Ithilien, not two days ago." Faramir said. He should have sounded happy but there was something in the tone of his voice that made Nat think there was more to it. "But Gandalf; they've taken the road to the morgul vale."

"And then the pass of Cirith Ungul."

"What does that mean?" Pippin asked worriedly "What's wrong?"

"Faramir, tell me everything. Tell me all you know!"

**XXXXXXX**

The steps were never ending or at least so it seemed to Laura. They were steep and slippery and founding something decent to hold onto whilst climbing was near impossible at times. Laura was exhausted and couldn't understand how they all found the strength to keep going, most of all Frodo. Frodo was climbing ahead of her and just as he was about to put his foot on the next step the hobbit almost lost grip."

"Frodo!" Laura shouted

"Careful Master!" Gollum told them, although Laura could swear he wasn't very concerned about Frodo's well being at all. "Very far too fall!"

"Yeah you don't have to tell us twice." Laura said

Frodo was struggling to grasp on to the next platform and when both Laura and Sam saw Gollum reaching out towards him they both had the same thought.

"Get back you maggot!" Sam threatened "Don't you touch him!"

"Don't even think about it!" Laura said.

But to both their surprise, Gollum didn't take the ring, instead, he helped pull Frodo up the last step. Exhaustedly, Frodo lay on the ground, panting heavily

"Why do they hates poor Sméagol? What has Sméagol ever done to them?" Gollum whined

Sam looked at Laura who just rolled her eyes.

"Master carries a heavy burden." Gollum told Frodo "Sméagol knows." And then he whispered something that Laura couldn't hear but Gollum turned around and looked right into her eyes, a look that terrified her.

**XXXXXXX**

Laura hadn't slept that night; nor had Sam. They had both laid awake watching Gollum because they were both sure that when he got the chance he would take the ring and neither of them would let that happen. They had been through too much together the three them and the quest was too important to let it be ruined by Gollum. When they eventually woke up they couldn't tell whether it was morning, afternoon or evening because there was no sun.

"What food do we have left?" Frodo asked

"Well let's see there's the…" Sam looked through his bag hoping to find the rest of the lembas bread from the elves but when he kept digging he couldn't find any.

"Sam what is it?" Laura asked

"The bread's gone!" Sam said panicked and then he looked at Laura and they both knew what had had happened to it. "He took it!"

Sam pointed at Gollum but he immediately decided to play innocent.

"Always blaming Sméagol." Gollum jumped up onto a rock next to Sam and Laura had a feeling she wasn't going to like where this was going. "What's this? Breadcrumbs on his jacket says _he_ took it!" Gollum brushed breadcrumbs off Sam's jacket.

"No." Laura said "You lying, cheating, filthy little bastard. You put those there! That wasn't Sam! Sam would never!"

"Don't listen to her Master. They're both in on it. I've seen him. He's always stuffing his face."

"That's a filthy lie!" Sam aimed forward to Gollum and punched him (which Laura thought was the least he deserved) but she could what it was doing to Frodo and when Frodo pushed Sam away from Gollum he almost collapsed exhaustedly to the ground.

"Frodo!"

"I'm alright Laura." Frodo said but they all knew that as a lie.

"No, no you're not alright. I can see what the ring is doing to you. But maybe I could help. Maybe I could carry it for a while so that you can rest? Share the load?"

Laura knew it was a suggestion but in Frodo's mind it was an attempt to take the ring away from him and in sheer panic and anger Frodo pushed Sam away.

"Get away!"

"See," Gollum hissed from behind Frodo "He wants it for himself!"

Laura had heard enough now. "Don't listen to him! Frodo can't you see that this _isn't_ you! The _ring_ is doing this to you! Gollum is doing this to you!" Laura was scared and angry and was crying at the same time. She couldn't believe what she was hearing and what Frodo was doing. "We're you're friends Frodo. Sam is your friend! Gollum isn't! He's only taking advantage of the situation for his own personal gain he doesn't care about any of us."

"She wants it too!" Gollum said

"Shut you!" Sam said

His face was read and tears were streaming down his face.

"No Sam;" Frodo said "It's you."

"But he's a liar. Can't you see that? He's poisoned you against us."

"Frodo." Laura said "Please listen to us; he's manipulated you. This is exactly what he wants and we can't let him have that. Frodo…please."

"No Laura; you two can't help me anymore. Go home."

"You don't mean that…" Sam said "What about Laura? She can't just go home! She doesn't have a home to go to!"

Frodo turned to Laura who stood in shock, not knowing what to say or do.

"Fine, you can come."

"I'm not leaving Sam out here on his own!" Laura said

"It's your choice," Frodo told her "But I'm leaving now."

Frodo turned around and started walking and Laura looked at Sam who was devastated.

"Go with him Laura. He needs you. I'll be fine."

Laura wasn't sure she believed Sam but what other choice did she have left?

**XXXXXXX**

Nat could swear that all she done since coming to Minas Tirith was running. Right at that moment she and Gandalf were rushing to catch up with Faramir and the rest of the Garrison whom were about to head out to a battle that they were sure to loose.

"Faramir!" Gandalf shouted "Do not throw away your life so quickly! Your father's will has turned to madness!"

"You can't seriously go out to battle right now? You're not going to stand a chance! Wait for our friends to come from Rohan!" Nat said, although she doubted that her opinions would have little affected on him.

"Where else would my allegiance lie but here?"

That was the only thing Faramir told them before the gate was opened before them and they rode out.

**XXXXXXX**

They had made it to Dunharrow safely and without any unexpected surprises along the way which was a relief for all of them. Once they arrived they all made camp at the foot of a mountain and it was a massive camp. Riley estimated at least a few thousand men were there to aid Gondor and that was quite something.

"How long do you think before Maggie goes into labour?" Felix asked as he sat down next to Riley

"I'm not sure but not long now at all." Riley replied "And I sure as hell hope it goes well because she's terrified."

"Yeah speaking of terrified; what is going on here?" Felix gestured at the horses in front of them. They were jumpy and wouldn't really let anyone touch them

"The horses are restless," Legolas said when he and Gimli joined them "And the men are quiet."

"They grow nervous in the shadow of the mountain." Eomer explained.

"Yeah, so do I." Felix admitted

"I'm very glad my sister seems to have found such a brave man to be with." Riley couldn't help but to laugh at the very obvious sarcasm in Felix's voice. He would have expected a comeback to that but Felix was so surprised that he didn't know what to say.

"That road there, where does that lead?" Gimli asked, referring to the small and narrow path in the mountain

"It is the road to the Dimwald, the door under the mountain."

"None who venture there ever return." Felix shivered because there was undoubtedly something very creepy and eerie about it all. Even though he wasn't going to admit that to Eomer.

**XXXXXXX**

"I have something for you. It isn't much but I thought it will come in handy when your child is born." Maggie and Eowyn were sharing a tent and this was one of those moments when Maggie was glad that she was so used to going camping with her family. Eowyn handed her a small piece of baby-sized clothing, obviously hand made and it was beautiful.

"Thank you, it's beautiful. I haven't exactly had time to go buy baby clothes." Maggie said and at this both she and Eowyn laughed. She was glad that they had become good friends.

"Have you thought of any names for him?" Eowyn asked

"No, Gimli was going on about how there are lots of fantastic dwarf names, bless him. I don't know what Elrond thinks either or if they have some kind of naming tradition in his family."

Thinking about Elrond made Maggie realise how much she missed him and how much she couldn't wait to see him again, to be in his arms and to fall asleep next to him.

"It must be a wonderful thing, to feel such a strong love for someone." Eowyn said

"It is and anyway don't say that like you don't have anyone missy. You and Felix, don't even deny it. You like him don't you?" Eowyn didn't reply but she couldn't hide the blush on her cheeks and it made Maggie smile. Felix deserved to be happy, in fact they both did.

"He is so different from any other man I know," Eowyn said "Instead of telling me I can't fight like others do he helps me like it's the most natural thing in the world."

"Yeah that's Felix for you. There aren't many guys like him; if I were you I'd keep him." And Maggie really hoped that Eowyn would.

**XXXXXXX**

The day went by uneventfully and there wasn't much for anyone to do which was causing everyone to be rather restless. Riley and Felix had made a deal between themselves to keep and eye out for Maggie in case there was any signs of the baby being on the way out. Riley had given up on sleeping a long time ago was walking aimlessly through the camp until he walked past Théoden's tent where he heard familiar voices speaking and just as he was about to lean in to listen in closer, Aragorn walked out. He looked at Riley and Riley saw the sword in the ranger's hands. He suddenly realised who had been in the tent with him and where Aragorn was going on.

"It was him wasn't it?" Riley asked "And you're leaving."

Aragorn nodded. "Aye and I have a feeling I'll be taking you with me." he said and started walking off towards the horses.

"And just where do you think you're off to?" Gimli stood in front of Aragorn with an eyebrow raised pretending to be unimpressed with the ranger's choice of obviously going off on his own.

"Not this time," Aragorn said "This time you must stay Gimli. Only Riley and I must go."

"Hmm, so you're taking him with me and leaving me?"

"Have you learnt nothing of the stubbornness of dwarves?" said Legolas as he joined them with his horse and Aragorn quickly realised that he was having no choice but to bring his friends along.

"You might as well accept it; we're going with you laddie." Gimli said and Aragorn couldn't help but to smile.

"You're leaving?" Riley cursed under his breath when they heard Maggie behind them. He'd hoped that they would be able to leave the camp before anyone else noticed but apparently there was no such luck. He knew Maggie wouldn't approve but Riley also knew that he ha to do it, just as he'd had to stay with Merry and Pippin he now had to go with Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli.

"Ri, I can't do this on my own!" Maggie's voice was shaking and tears were streaming down her eyes

"You're not on your own though are you cuz? You have Felix, he'll look after you and anyway I'll be back soon enough. I'll be back." He pulled his cousin in for a hug and hugged Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn too. However when she hugged Aragorn, he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"You won't be alone tonight." Maggie looked at him, confused and wasn't quite sure what he meant at all. The four of them mounted their horses and the few people who were awake where whispering amongst themselves wondering why they were all suddenly leaving.

"Why does he leave on the eve of battle?" said someone

"He leaves because there is no hope." Gamling replied

"He _is_ our hope." Maggie snapped at him "And you better damned well remember that."

Théoden put a calming hand on her shoulder. "He leaves because he must. My Lady Margaret; there is someone here for you."

"Who?" Maggie asked

Théoden only gave her a smile. "You best go see for yourself."

There something in Theoden's voice which made Maggie curious and she walked through the camp, eager to find out who it was. As she walked however she ran into Merry.

"What was all that about?" Merry asked "Has Aragorn really left?"

"Merry I have to…oh god…" Maggie suddenly felt a kick in her stomach and a pain unlike anything she had ever felt before. She quickly realised they must be contractions and before she could say anything else to Merry she felt another one.

"Maggie, what's wrong?" Merry asked worriedly

"My water just broke. The baby's coming."

"I'll go get Eowyn!" said Merry and ran as fast as she could through the camp and hoped she would get to Eowyn in time.

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_DUN DUN DUN! A bit of a cliffhanger there for you. Like it? Please review! _**


	20. Welcome To The World

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N: **Three chapters in a row in one day again? Well, I didn't really want to leave you hanging without finding out what would happen to the baby. So here you go, the next chapter.

**_Twenty _**

_Welcome to the world _

**XXXXXXX**

As soon as Felix had found out Maggie was in labour he'd rushed out of his tent fast as he could to find Maggie and Eowyn. By the time he reached their tent he was stopped by Eomer who wouldn't let him in.

"She is in labour, you cannot be in there." he told Felix

"She is also my friend, like hell I'm going to leave her! Get out of my way!" Eomer hesitated for a moment but stepped aside and let Felix into the tent. Maggie was lying on a bed with Eowyn next to her trying to keep her calm.

"Oh god it hurts…."

"Remember to breathe; it will be alright. I'm here and so is Felix. We will help you through this." Eowyn told her

"Yeah? Have you ever delivered a baby before Eowyn?"

"Well, no. But I have seen it done many times before."

"What can I do?" Felix asked Eowyn

"Hold her hand. Keep her calm. This is going to be a long night."

**XXXXXXX**

They all waited anxiously for hours and Maggie's screams kept everyone from sleeping. Merry couldn't understand how giving birth to something as beautiful as a baby could hurt as much as it seemed to do. Listening to it was awful and he really hoped that everything was going alright in there.

"Any news?" Théoden asked as he came to join them. Eomer shook his head but as he did, Maggie's screams suddenly died out and they all looked at each other as they could hear a baby crying from inside the tent.

**XXXXXXX**

No words could ever explain and Maggie wasn't sure she understood it either but the small baby in her arms was the most precious thing in the world to her and she knew at once that she would give anything to protect him and to keep him safe from harm. You could tell there was both her and Elrond in him because his ears with slightly pointed and his hair was brown.

"You know," said Felix "Not to be funny or anything, but you could always call him Caspian. Because technically, he is a prince or at least will be when you marry Elrond." Leave it to Felix, Maggie thought but actually that wasn't a bad idea. _Caspian, _she thought, _I could get used to that. _

"Caspian sounds like a royal name. I rather like it." as soon as they realised it was Lord Elrond who had spoken, Felix and Eowyn quickly left to leave him and Maggie alone with their son.

"He is beautiful." said Elrond as he sat down by Maggie. Never would the Elf-lord have thought that he would get the chance to become a father again.

"Would you like to hold him?" Maggie asked. Elrond took his new born son carefully in his arms and found it hard to believe he had been so incredibly blessed and lucky to once again become a father. Baby Caspian, their son, grasped onto his father's finger and Maggie just looked at the two of them. Never in her life would she have thought to be there in that moment; to have a child with Lord Elrond.

"How are you _Melemin_?" he asked

"Tired. Happy. Overwhelmed all at once. I didn't think you would be here." Maggie was exhausted and felt like she had no energy left in her body. She realised she was probably going to fall fast asleep any moment but part of her didn't want to because she wanted to be awake with her son.

"I wasn't sure I was going to be but it seems like fate had different plans. I wouldn't want to miss the birth of our son for anything." said Elrond

"Mhmm…" Maggie murmured quietly and Elrond stroke her cheek and mumbled calming words in Elvish to her.

"Sleep my love, I will still be here come morning."

**XXXXXXX**

"So, this is the young prince of Rivendell? I've never seen a baby up close before." Merry said excitedly when Elrond came to join them.

"Would you like to hold him Master Hobbit?" Elrond asked

Merry's face lit up excited. "May I?" and Elrond carefully passed Caspian to him.

"Hold him like this." Eowyn instructed

"How is Maggie?" Felix asked. He yawned and stretched. It had been a really long night and there was no point in going back to sleep. Eowyn looked tired to and he took his hand in his, almost expecting her to pull it back but she didn't.

"Fast asleep and exhausted. I will delay my journey home and stay until tomorrow to make sure that they are both alright."

"What of the baby?" Théoden asked "War is no place for any child."

"Well ideally, I'd suggest that you take him and preferably Maggie too back to Rivendell." Felix said

"That isn't a bad idea my friend," Elrond agreed. "However, knowing our dear Maggie, she would probably kill us before that ever becomes a possibility. And a mother shouldn't be separated from her child so I'm afraid we're at loose ends here."

"Yeah that would be the stubbornness that runs in the Spencer family; you'd have loved her granddad James."

"What's his name?" Merry asked as he held Caspian in his arms.

"His name is Caspian." Elrond replied

"Either way," said Théoden "These are all things for tomorrow – today, we celebrate the birth of your son.

**XXXXXXX**

"Well….this place isn't just a little eerie." They had been following the path through the mountain for a while now and it seemed to Riley like it just went on endlessly. It was an uncomfortable place and not really so strange at all that the horses didn't like it.

"What kind of army would linger in such a place like this?" Gimli asked, nervously

"One that is cursed," Legolas replied "Long ago the men of the mountain swore an oath to the last king of Gondor; to come to his aid to fight. But when time came they fled, banishing into the darkness of the mountain and so Isildur cursed them never to rest until they had fulfilled their pledge."

"They sound grand." Riley said. Finally, they dismounted their horses that were beginning to act uneasy and scared. The door they'd been looking for was right in front of them and Riley had to admit that even he was feeling terrified.

"The way is shut, it was made by those who are dead and the dead keep it." Legolas said as he read off the signs on top of the door

"Definitely not a five-star resort then." Aragorn was neither scared nor bothered by it, instead he grasped his sword and walked right in through the doors shortly followed by Legolas.

"Well this is unheard of; an elf will go underground where a dwarf dare not? I'll never hear the end of this."

"Oh I'm going to regret this one, come on Gimli." Riley plunged in after the two others and Gimli had no choice but to follow.

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

**_So, the baby's name is Caspian which I realise might be a little cliché but I hope you like it anyway. Review please?_**


	21. Into Battle!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N: **Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's taken forever for me to get up this chapter but my life has been slightly chaotic lately and I'm going through a bit of a rough patch, not everything is all too great I must admit. But fear not it is Saturday and I've just got back a really good mark for my anthropology exam so this will be celebrated by two updates in a row. Not much to say about this chapter, it's pretty straight forward so I hope you like it! Enjoy!

**_Twenty-One_**

_Into Battle! _

**XXXXXXX**

Everyone was excited to see Maggie and Elrond's new born son. In the middle of all the darkness and despair that was the war; it was nice to have a little glimmer of hope. When Maggie woke up in the morning she still couldn't quite comprehend it. She was a mother and Elrond was the father of their son. It seemed almost too good to be true but in a sense it also felt like this was always meant to be. Caspian was fast asleep in the basket that acted as his temporary cradle and he seemed to be quite content with things as they were and Maggie just sat on the side of her bed, watching her son sleep with a smile on her face. Not long afterwards, Lord Elrond walked into the tent and sat beside her, kissing her on the forehead.

"I will be ready to depart when you are." he told her.

Maggie turned around to her future husband with a confused look on her face. "Depart? What do you mean depart?"

"Back to Rivendell of course; this has always been the plan." Elrond told her, he'd have thought it was obvious but apparently Maggie didn't seem to agree. "Caspian cannot stay here."

Maggie knew Elrond was right, she wasn't going to let their son stay in harm's way especially if Sauron were to find out. However, she also knew where Elrond was headed with this conversation. "No he can't; but I can't leave."

"Maggie, _melemin_, would you for once just lay aside your stubbornness and pride and listen to reason? By the Valar, you have just given birth to our child, our son and he needs his mother to be alive."

"This isn't the first time I've seen or been in battle and you know that. I've seen people die without being able to help and by leaving for Rivendell it also means I'm leaving behind Laura, Frodo and Sam. I can't have that on my conscience." The elf-lord frowned disapprovingly and Maggie put his arms around Elrond. "Elrond, believe me I want to give Caspian a chance at a better future as much as you do but how can I do that if I don't stay and fight. My part in this isn't over yet and it would drive me insane to not know what'll happen to my friends, to my cousin, if I go. We've been through so much together, I can't leave. Not yet."

_Curse her blasted stubbornness, _thought Elrond as he gave an annoyed sighed.

"What would you have me do then?" he asked

"Take Caspian back with you to Rivendell, he'll be safe there."

"I cannot believe I am agreeing to this. I must have lost my mind when I fell in love with you." Maggie grinned at this and they both shared a long, deep and passionate kiss because neither of them knew exactly how long it would take before they would see each other again. She wasn't going to lie though, parting with Caspian wasn't going to be easy but she was doing it for the sake of his own good.

**XXXXXXX**

Felix was absolutely shattered. He'd had next to no sleep after helping Maggie and Eowyn with the labour and after that there had just been no point in going to sleep. They had a long day ahead of them and Felix wasn't going to lie, he was just as terrified as everyone else was even though nobody would admit it out loud. He closed his eyes and was just about to drift when he caught a glimpse of Eowyn walking in. Deciding he would pretend to be asleep Felix lied still and when Eowyn walked up to him, before she knew it, he grabbed hold of her and pulled her down next to him.

"That is not a very nice move!" said Eowyn in between her laughter and attempt to sound serious.

"Well I have a few different ones up my sleeve." Felix put his arms around Eowyn and pulled her in for a kiss that started as something soft and then became more passionate until they finally broke it off, realising they had leave soon. Felix stroke a strand of hair out of Eowyn's face and just looked at her for a while. How was it possible for the two of them to have found each other in the middle of all this? He thought it nearly too good to be true.

"You're not going to tell anyone are you?" Eowyn asked

Felix shook his head. "Of course not; take Merry with you. It's the only way he'll have a chance to fight."

Eowyn nodded and leaned in to kiss Felix again. "I have to go." she got off the bed and left just as quickly as she'd come in. Felix sighed heavily, got up and then walked out the tent only to find Eomer standing right outside.

"Do you think I do not see what's going on between you and my sister?" Eomer asked with a serious tone in his voice.

_Here we go, _Felix thought. Actually, he had been expecting that a whole lot sooner. "Look I really don't want to get on your bad side Eomer, I like you, I see you as my friend. I get that you're protective of your sister, I have a sister I would be too, but Eowyn is a grown woman and I would never hurt her." he told him

"I know you wouldn't." Eomer put a hand on Felix's shoulder. "I trust you, I am glad my sister has found an honourable man to be with. But if you ever do hurt her, believe me, friend or not, I would kill you."

"Well then, I'm glad we understand each other now I have to go find Maggie."

**XXXXXXX**

Théoden was unimpressed. He showed this by standing with his arms crossed and looked at Maggie in such a manner that she had no idea what to expect from him. Maggie and Felix were stood in the Théoden's tent after saying goodbye to Caspian and Elrond. It had been the toughest thing she'd ever done but this was her choice and she knew she had to do it. The king of Rohan opened his mouth and was undoubtedly about to protest but Maggie cut him off before he had a chance to do so.

"Yes I am staying, yes I am fighting with you and no, with all due respect my lord I do not care about what you're going to say because those are my friends out there, _our_ friends and I will be god damned if I'm going to abandon them now." she told him

Théoden looked at Maggie with a raised eyebrow as if he didn't know what to say for a few seconds

"So be it then but we are leaving now." Théoden finally said as they left the tent.

"I'll tell you what Maggie, Riley is going to absolutely kill you when he finds out."

**XXXXXXX**

"Okay Riley, breathe. Remember the old saying about facing your fears." As far as claustrophobic places were concerned, the cave they were in was far worse than Moria had ever been and Riley tried to remember to breathe. He wasn't going to let his own fear get the better of him because they needed to do this, they needed more allies or else they would have no chance at all to defeat Sauron and Riley wouldn't have that on his conscience. Riley wasn't sure what he expected to see when they walked in through the path but it was practically some sort of underground abandoned city.

"The dead are following," said Legolas as he glanced around wearily. All of them, even Aragorn, were a little on edge. "They have been summoned."

"Yeah? Is that a good or a bad thing because I've gotta tell you 'Las, I'm not entirely convinced." Suddenly, beneath their feet some kind of fog seemed to be surrounding them and Riley could swear it was taking the shape of hands trying to grasp at them.

"Who enters my domain?" the voice was threatening and haunting but Riley couldn't see who it belonged to until suddenly the same of someone who once could have been a king appeared. _Ghosts huh, _Riley thought, _that's something new. _

"One who will have your allegiance." Aragorn demanded

"The dead do not suffer the living to pass." said the king

"You will suffer me!" They appeared from out of nowhere, just like the king had and before Riley knew it they were surrounded by countless of ghosts and the king continued laugh, obviously with no intention of helping them at all as he walked towards them.

"Simple, why can these things never be simple?" Riley asked as he was beginning to feel that this would take a lot of time.

"What would be the fun in that my friend?" Aragorn replied

Legolas fired an arrow which obviously did nothing except go straight through the king. "They way is shut, it was made by those who are dead and the dead keep it. Now you must die."

"I summon you to fulfil your oath." Aragorn told him

"None but the king of Gondor can summon me." At this remark, Aragorn revealed his sword and the king looked at Aragorn as though _he_ had seen a ghost.

"That line was broken!"

"It has been remade! Fight for us and regain your honour. What say you? What say you!"

**XXXXXXX**

Nat had been sat on the stairs outside the great hall, rolling her thumbs restlessly waiting for some kind of news or for something to happen. She hated the fact that Denethor had sent Faramir and those men out to battle without any consideration or thought process at all and she hated his selfishness and arrogance. She was snapped out of her own thoughts when she heard footsteps marching up towards her and the gates opening wide with Denethor hurrying out.

"Pippin! What's happening?" Nat asked

And then they both saw that the men were carrying an unconscious Faramir with them and the two friends looked at each other in horror. Denethor was mumbling to himself in despair but Pippin and Nat both hurried up to Faramir and when Pippin listened to his heart, the young Took could tell that Faramir was very much alive.

"Nat, he's alive. He's alive!"

"I knew that first aid course would come in handy at some point." said Nat as she sat in front of Faramir but Denethor grasped her and threw her aside.

"Nat!" Pippin called

Annoyed, Nat got back up onto her feet. "I could help save him if you would let me!" she told the Steward.

"I do not need some foolish, arrogant little girl to tell me how to best take care of my son!" Denethor hissed "He is dead! Just like Boromir! Now move out of my sight or I will have you thrown into the dungeons regardless of what your wizard friend may say." Denethor strayed further away until he suddenly stopped and looked down at the army that stood below them, awaiting orders.

"ABANDON YOUR POSTS!" Denethor shouted at the top of his lungs and Nat couldn't believe what she was hearing

"He's completely off his bloody rocket." she said. Denethor was never able to go on because before he knew it, Gandalf had knocked him unconscious with his staff.

"Prepare for battle!" the wizard order

"Okay," Nat said to Pippin "Now that was cool."

**XXXXXXX**

As Riley watched the mercenary ships sail into shore he couldn't help but to think it was interesting that Middle-Earth was so large. Obviously he'd known that there were mercenaries and other lands it was more the fact that Tolkien hadn't really spent as much time describing them as he had the Middle-Earth that Riley knew. The four companions stood and waited for the ships to come in and

"You will not enter Gondor." Aragorn told them calmly. The mercenaries just laughed mockingly at them until Legolas fired an arrow, which then immediately killed one of the sailors.

"Prepare to be boarded!" Gimli shouted

"Boarded?" said one of the mercenaries "By you and whose army?!"

"Famous last words mate," said Riley with a grin as a green fog appeared in front of them in the shape of their friends from within the mountain.

**_To be continued….. _**

* * *

**_Had this been in real life, Maggie would have undoubtedly left with Elrond BUT as this is a fanfics she has to stay because her part in the story isn't done and because she's one of the main characters I don't want to cut her off just like that. And I have a lot of things planned for which she's needed. But fear not, there will be a new chapter soon. In the meanwhile, please review! _**


	22. Battle of Minas Tirith Part I

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my own characters.

**A/N: **50 reviews! 50! I never thought I'd ever get anywhere close to it or that people would even like this fic! You guys are amazing thank you so much! This chapter was supposed to be uploaded a whole lot sooner but life has just been crazy lately. It should all go back to normal now though and more frequent updates. Anyway, enough rambling on my part, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy!

**_Twenty-Two _**

_Battle of Minas Tirith Part I _

**XXXXXXX**

Laura couldn't decide what was worse about the whole situation; the fact that she was slowly beginning to realise they'd been lead into a trap or the fact that despite this they had to continue. There was no turning back now and as she looked at Frodo she knew that the hobbit was aware of it as well. The cave was dark and cold and it felt a bit like entering a villain's lair in a game except Laura had no idea of what they were expecting. She stayed close to Frodo and grabbed his hand.

"We'll be alright Laura." Frodo told her although quite honestly he wasn't sure who he was trying reassure, Laura or himself.

"Ugh, what's that smell?" Laura asked as she covered her nose. It was ghastly and smelled a bit like something had died.

"Orcses filth." Gollum hissed "Orcses come in here sometimes. Hurry! This way!" Gollum lead them onwards through the cave and Laura couldn't help but to feel more and more afraid. She wondered what their friends were doing at the moment, if they were well and most of all if they were alive. Laura shuddered at that thought, and told herself that of course they were alive; they needed to be. Then she suddenly realised that Maggie must be very close to the end of her pregnancy and would be giving birth to her baby soon, unless she hadn't done so already.

"AAH!" Laura found herself stuck in something sticky and slimy and when she managed to get out of it she realised it was cobweb. Massive cobweb. _Where the fuck are we? _She thought. She heard Frodo crying out loudly and as she ran ahead she saw that the ringbearer had got stuck in cobweb too.

"It's sticky!" said Frodo "What is it?"

"You'll see," Gollum replied in the distance but they couldn't actually see where he was. Frodo turned around to Laura as to make sure that she was alright and they both carried on; both of them realising that this had been a very, very bad idea.

"I don't like this Frodo," Laura whispered, "I don't like this at all." The path got narrower as they went on and there were things stuck in the cobweb that made them both wonder what kind lived in the cave. Laura tried not to look down as she heard the sound of bones cracking beneath her feet; all she wanted was to get out of that cave.

Frodo suddenly stopped and listened for a while with a worried expression on his face.

"Laura, run. Go."

"No! I can't leave you Frodo; I'm not going to leave you." The noise Laura heard behind them was something she would never be able to forget and something that would haunt her dreams for a very long time to come. She didn't want to turn around and look at the creature; the spider behind them. Instead; she looked Frodo in the eyes and did as she had been told; she ran and hid. Laura could never really recall what happened next because it all happened so quickly. She caught glimpses of the massive spider from where she was hiding and swore that she would never complain about the English house spiders again. As she heard Frodo getting up and running, Laura ran too, parallel to him but still tried to keep out of sight of the spider. The tunnels split into two and because of that Laura and Frodo got separated.

"Naughty little fly, why does he cry?" she heard Gollum singing to himself and it pissed her off that he sounded so very gleeful and pleased about it all. As if everything had gone exactly according to plan. _When I get my hands on the slimy little bugger, _she thought to herself. She could hear the spider crawling in the tunnel and she could hear Frodo panting loudly but she couldn't see what was going on. As soon as she heard him running again she ran after him and finally saw the opening at the end of the tunnel but Laura stopped again when she saw Frodo in confrontation with Gollum and stayed hidden.

"Frodo—" Laura was about to scream but then felt a hand cover her mouth and when she turned around to see none other than Sam, she greeted her friend with a much welcomed hug. The peace didn't last long enough though.

"Sam!" Laura whispered as she saw the spider again. Sam grabbed her and with Sting glowing bright blue in the other they walked up to the spider.

"Let him go you filth! You will not touch him again! Come on and finish it!"

The spider wasn't afraid but then neither was Sam. Laura ran up to Frodo whom was wrapped in the spider's web. The spider was so keen on getting rid of Sam that it didn't seem to notice Laura at all and when Laura turned around she heard the spider give a cry of pain and then seemingly fall unconscious.

Sam had killed it.

"Samwise the Brave indeed," she said and couldn't help but to let out a sigh of relief.

"I wouldn't cheer just yet," Sam said "We've got company." And Laura realised he was right as she saw Sting glowing blue again.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire." she mumbled

**XXXXXXX**

Minas Tirith was on fire. Literally. Nat could smell the smoke from within the gates and could hear the orcs chanting outside and trying to get in through the gates. At that moment however, Natalie was desperately trying to get in through the door which Denethor had shut her and Pippin out of. He was in there, trying to burn his son alive because he had lost his mind entirely. Pippin had run to find Gandalf and Nat was praying to any deity that would listen that he would get there in time. She wasn't strong enough to open the doors on her own but she would be damned if she gave up trying.

"Nat!" She heard Pippin's voice behind her and a horse galloping. The doors burst open and not a moment too soon as Denethor was stood in the middle of the room, about to burn himself and Faramir.

"Stay this madness!" Gandalf cried. Denethor grabbed the flask with oil and poured the rest of it all over himself and Nat wasn't sure what to say or what to do.

"You may triumph in the field of battle for a day but against the power that has risen in the east, there is no victory!" Denethor told them

"That doesn't mean you can burn your son when he's alive!" Nat told him

Denethor didn't reply and to both Nat and Pippin's horror he set fire to the wood without a moment's hesitation. Gandalf rode forth and knocked Denethor to the ground and Pippin jumped off Shadowfax and with every bit of his strength managed to push Faramir to the ground.

"No!" Denethor cried out "You will not take my son from me!" He grabbed hold of a very panicky Pippin until Gandalf with help from Shadowfax knocked Denethor right into the fire. Nat helped Pippin up onto his feet and watched in horror as Denethor, set on fire, ran screaming out of the room and the last they saw of him was when he ran right of the edge walls.

"So passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion

"And good riddance…." Nat said

**XXXXXXX**

"Are you ready for this Maggie?" Maggie looked at Felix and then looked at the field in front of them and the massive army of orcs.

"No." she replied honestly "But then, when are we ever ready for anything?" Maggie breathed heavily and couldn't believe they were there. At the battle where it would all be decided; all of their fates whether they wanted to or not. Everything they had been through over the past few months had lead up to that moment and even though she couldn't explain it, she knew they were all meant to be there.

"This is going to sound so cheesy but no matter what happens here; I love you. No matter what happened between us and how we broke up, I'm still glad about where we are now and I'll always love you."

"Well, you bloody better because you're going to be Caspian's godfather." Maggie told him and she let out a little giggle at the look on Felix's face. "Jokes aside, I love you too and we're both going to kick ass on that battlefield."

They both heard Théoden's voice echoing loudly as he rode up and down. Felix looked around to see if he could spot Eowyn but he couldn't see her or Merry although he assumed they were both close by. "Arise! Arise riders of Théoden! Spears shall be shaken! Shields shall be splintered! A sword day! A red day! Ere the sun rises!"

Maggie grabbed Felix's hand and thought of Elrond and Caspian and how much she missed them. She thought of Riley, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas and hoped that where they were under the mountain, they would be alright and safe. She thought about Nat and Pippin up there in Minas Tirith and prayed they were prepared for the battle dawning on them. She thought about Frodo, Sam and Laura and wished more than anything that their journey, their path to mountain was safe.

"Ride now! Ride! Ride for ruin! And the world's ending!" Théoden shouted out at the top of his lungs.

And they went forward, into battle none of them knowing how it would end.

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_Like it? Love it? Hate it? Whichever one it is please leave a review! I'll try and get the next chapter up a lot faster than this one! _**


	23. Battle of Minas Tirith Part II

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N:** Okay guys, we're here; the battle of Minas Tirith, where all the good stuff happens. This is quite the long chapter and emotionally, this has been the most challenging and the _toughest_ chapter to write by _far_ because…yeah you'll see why. I can't believe how far this fic has come and how far the characters have come, it's been some journey and it's not over yet. Anyway, here's the next chapter and you know, brace yourselves. Enjoy!

**_Twenty-Three_**

_Battle of Minas Tirith Part II _

**XXXXXXX**

_This is it_, Maggie thought, _this is where we make our stand._ There was no turning back and no change of heart. She closed her eyes and just for one moment she thought about home, in England where she had her family and all of her other friends. Maggie couldn't quite explain it but she knew in her heart that this wasn't just for Middle-Earth, this was for their home as well and all the other worlds out there. This was so much bigger than anything they could ever imagine and it was far from over yet. As Maggie heard everyone join in Théoden's battle cry she closed her eyes and thought of Elrond and their son. And then, just for one split second, she could swear she heard Elrond's voice speaking to her.

_I will be with you, _he told her. And then they charged forward to Sauron's army.

Somewhere in the midst of all the chaos of the battlefield, Maggie lost Felix and couldn't see where he'd gone. The orcs seemed confident at first, firing off arrows which killed some of their own immediately but when they realised that wasn't working they suddenly seemed scared and some of them didn't move even when the horses trampled them to death. But there were still a hell of a lot more orcs than there were men.

"Maggie!" Maggie heard Eomer calling out to her and when he rode up to her they were all interrupted by the sound of horns that didn't sound familiar at all. When Maggie saw the massive Oliphants before them, she could swear her jaw dropped all the way to the ground and she wasn't sure what to say.

"Shit me…" Despite having seen the films, actually seeing an Oliphant stood in front of you was an entirely different experience. "Uhm, Eomer….what do we do?" she asked. There were at least a dozen Oliphants marching straight towards them and even more men on them.

"Re-form the line!" Théoden ordered, even his voice was slightly panicky. "Sound the charge! Take them head on!"

Maggie ended up right under one of the Oliphants and only just managed to escape its tusks. She managed to cut it although she doubted it did much harm, it was the arrows, she figured, that would bring the beasts down so she focused on killing as many of the orcs as she possibly could.

**XXXXXXX**

Felix felt the adrenaline rush going right through his body as he killed one orc after the other. As far as he was concerned he was winning the on going competition between him, Legolas and Gimli even though they weren't there yet. While out on the battlefield he tried keeping a lookout for Eowyn, Merry and Maggie but it was near impossible and so Felix could only hope that they would all be okay. The sight of the Oliphants scared him because they were gigantic and beyond anything he had ever imagined.

"Eomer!" Felix shouted when he saw his friend not far from him "Aim for its rider!"

Eomer looked at Felix but then threw his spear which hit the Oliphant's rider right in the chest and it fell off. This seemed to catch the creature off guard and made it unstable. Arrows were fired at its head and eventually the creature finally collapsed and it seemed to make the others nervous. Théoden shouted an order to aim for their heads and bring the other creatures down while Felix continued to cut off the heads of orcs.

**XXXXXXX**

Nat heard the Nazgul's cry and felt a shudder go down her spine. She was sat with Pippin and Gandalf and watched as the soldiers of Minas Tirith desperately tried to keep the orcs and trolls from barging in through the gates of the city.

"I didn't think it would end this way." Pippin said

Gandalf looked at the hobbit quizzically "End?" asked the wizard "No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain curtain of this world rolls back and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it."

Gandalf seemed lost in his own thoughts for a moment, as if his mind was far away. Nat couldn't explain it, but suddenly she wasn't so afraid anymore. The wizard's words were calming, soothing in a way but then again she supposed that was the purpose of it.

"What? Gandalf?" Pippin asked

"White shores," said Gandalf "And beyond a far green country under a swift country."

Nat found herself quietly under her breath "_And all will turn, to silver glass, light on the water, grey ships pass_…"

"Well," Pippin smiled now "That isn't so bad."

"No," Gandalf told them "No it isn't."

"They're almost in Gandalf." Nat said as she saw the men struggling to keep the doors closed. The wizard looked at Pippin and then at Nat and nodded, as though to tell them it was time to get ready. Nat wasn't sure she was ready or that she ever would be but it wasn't as if she had a choice at all.

**XXXXXXX**

"Eowyn!" Felix saw Eowyn kneeling on the ground right in front of the Witch King of Angmar. His Nazgul lay dead before him, with its head cut off and Felix rushed up to Eowyn.

"You fool!" the Witch King hissed angrily "Don't you know that no man can kill me?"

"Oh," Felix said with a grin on his face. "You're in for a treat my friend." Felix told him. The witch king looked at Felix and was about to aim his sword at him when something stabbed him in the leg and he knelt down. Eowyn took of her helmet and looked him right in the eye.

"I am no man." Eowyn stabbed him and within a few moments the Witch King diminished and it was like his soul (or whatever he had of a soul) had vanished, leaving nothing but the robes behind.  
The Witch King of Angmar was dead.

**XXXXXXX**

Maggie had dismounted her horse a long time ago and was back on foot again. The orcs were becoming fewer and fewer but the battle was still far from over. She had noticed the strange green fog washing in over the battlefield and it took her a few minutes until she realised what it was. "Maggie! What are you…?"

"Yeah no time to explain, kind of busy in case you hadn't noticed."

"Be glad Riley hasn't seen you yet." Legolas then looked at Maggie's stomach and then back at her

"By the Valar you've—"

"Given birth? Yes, he's beautiful and he's safe and sound with Elrond in Rivendell. There will be time for hugs and things later right now you need to look out behind you!" Legolas turned around and cut the head off the orc that had been trying to sneak up on him.

"Legolas!" It was Aragorn calling his name and both Legolas and Maggie looked at the Oliphant heading towards them. Within a matter of seconds Legolas had jumped onto the Oliphant's tusk and climbed up to the top of its head while shooting the riders and soldiers on it. When they had all fallen off to the ground Legolas shot three arrows into the neck of creature and as it slowly began collapsing to the ground the Elven prince of Mirkwood just slid off back to the ground like it was the easiest thing ever.

"You massive show off." Maggie said but couldn't help but to smile at the same time

"That still only counts as one!" Gimli grumbled and then when he noticed Maggie was standing next to him he looked at her, somewhat confused

"You're not supposed to be here lassie!" he told her sternly

**XXXXXXX**

Riley had lost count of how many orcs he'd killed but in the distance he could hear Gimli counting loudly. The dwarf seemed annoyed about the fact that Legolas was killing plenty of more orcs and mercenaries than him. As Riley took a good look around him he could tell that Sauron's forces were diminishing and that they were undoubtedly winning at least this battle.

But Riley had spoken too soon.

He hadn't seen it coming at all, the mercenary behind him knocked him to the ground because he had been too focused on everything else going on. Riley lost grip of his sword and the mercenary kicked it a good few feet away from him so that Riley couldn't reach it in time. He got back up onto his feet and endure a few moments of arm to arm combat but it was like Riley had no strength in him and was once again brought to his knees and the mercenary grabbed him tightly by his throat. Riley knew then what he had already known in his heart for a long time. Maggie's nightmares back in Edoras made sense now and there was nothing else he could do but accept his fate. Riley knew he ought to be scared, that he ought to fight it but something in him told him that it would be alright in the end. He looked the mercenary in the eyes and just for one moment he knew that they understood each other perfectly. There was nothing that could save him now. He took a deep breath closed his eyes and felt the sting and pain of the arrow right through his chest. The sound of the battle field faded and everything blurred. Riley thought he heard voices calling out his name and the sound of a woman crying. He thought for a moment he saw his cousin running up to him and he wanted to tell her that everything was going to be alright. That he wouldn't be in pain anymore, that he wouldn't be in pain anymore and he had played his part in this quest.

And then everything was gone.

**XXXXXXX**

"Let go of me Aragorn! Let me go!"

Aragorn had been trying to hold back a struggling Maggie but when the ranger realised there was no use he let go off her and she ran straight up to his cousin. She tried to wake him up, desperately but Riley made no sound and didn't move at all. Maggie didn't want to believe it. She refused to believe it. This couldn't be it. This couldn't be happening. Not after everything that had been through together. It wasn't fair.

"Maggie, there is nothing we can do." Legolas told her calmly, even though he knew that there was nothing he could possibly say that would make it easier.

Maggie felt her knees giving up and she collapsed to the ground, sobbing into Legolas' arms. She was too tired for words. Aragorn knelt down beside Riley, pulled out the arrow in his chest, just like he had done for Boromir and then closed his eyes. He felt like he had not only lost a friend but a brother.

"Be at peace _Muindor-nin_. Let the Valar watch over your soul." he whispered

They may have won the battle of Minas Tirith but they were all of them faced with the inevitable truth.

Riley was dead.

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_So I know you all probably hate me right now *hides away* and I've been thinking a lot about whether or not to keep Riley alive but in some way I knew since the beginning of this fic that he had to die for the sake of the story. It makes it more believable and it gives the rest of them something more to fight for. It was a really tough chapter to write because Riley is one of my favourite characters and it feels very much like he is the stronghold of their friendship group in many ways. _**


	24. The Black Gate

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N: **Why hello! Missed me much? Have you guys recovered from that last chapter yet? Well it's not over just yet there are a few more chapters to go! There's not much to say about this one except I hope you enjoy it!

**_Twenty-Four _**

_The Black Gate _

**XXXXXXX**

Even though Minas Tirith itself was more or less intact, the battle had left many injured and even more dead. The injured were being brought back within the city's walls for healing and in some strange way it had made everyone come together. If anything, nobody appeared to be saddened by the death of Denethor. When Nat pushed her way through the crowd to meet her friends she stopped at the sight of Riley's lifeless body being carried up the stairs. His body was pale, his eyes closed and there was a wound through his chest. Maggie and Felix were walking next to him, both of them silent and filled with sorrow. They stopped when they saw Nat and looked up at her, none of them knowing what to tell her. She'd been as close to Riley as the rest of them.

"Oh god…he's not. Please tell me he's not…." Nat whispered but when she realised the truth, she felt the pain hit her. Tears streamed down her face and not just hers but Maggie and Felix too. They stood there, the three of them and hugged for what seemed like forever with no intention of letting go.

"He fought bravely and he died with honour." Aragorn told them and put a hand on Felix's shoulder.

"Oh shit, Maggie," Felix said "You should have your wounds cleaned up, they could get infected otherwise." Maggie looked at the scars on her hand and then felt the ones on her face. She realised Felix was right but at that moment, cleaning up wounds seemed like the least important thing to do. Her cousin was gone and there was no possible way to undo it or to bring him back and Maggie couldn't help but to feel responsible for it.

**XXXXXXX**

"So, I'm guessing you have some sort of a cunning master plan right?"

Laura and Sam stood still at the bottom of the stairs, listening to the orcs arguing amongst themselves about what to keep and what to throw away of Frodo's things. They'd followed them from the cave to the tower where they had taken Frodo and where waiting for the right moment to strike them, except the right moment never seemed to come. The argument grew louder and more violent until it suddenly died out and footsteps walked down the stairs. Sam looked at Laura and without a word of warning, with Sting in his hand he walked forward, growling loudly like he was pretending to be some sort of dragon or otherwise larger creature and Laura hoped it would work.

Halfway up the stairs however, they were met by three orcs although it didn't seem to frighten Sam in the least.

"That's for Frodo!" Sam stabbed the first orc through the chest. "That's for the Shire!" The second orc flew head first off the stairs and landed dead at the bottom of it. "And that's for my old Gaffer!" the third and last orc had its throat slit and soon lay dead on the ground.

"Samwise Gamgee you never cease to amaze me." Laura said and Sam smiled at her. They followed the stairs up to the very top of the tower and stopped when they heard yet another voice speaking.

"I'm going to bleed you like a stuck pig!" hissed the orc in front of them as he aimed his blade towards Frodo. That was the only thing he was able to say because, much to Frodo's surprise, Sam stabbed him first and the orc fell lifeless to the floor.

"Sam!" Frodo sounded like he couldn't decide whether he was more happy or surprised to see his guide. "Oh Sam I'm so sorry!" said the hobbit and then he looked at Laura. "Will you forgive me also?"

"Frodo, you have nothing to apologise for." Laura told him.

Sam bent down and untied the ropes around Frodo's wrist and the first thing he did was to check for his ring but when he couldn't find it, a look of panic spread across his face.

"They've taken the ring!" Frodo told them

Sam shook his head. "Begging your pardon but they haven't." He reached inside his pocked and held out the ring like it was no big deal at all. Frodo looked sceptically at him for a few seconds and just for a moment there was something in his eyes that Laura didn't like. She jumped a little when Frodo suddenly snatched the ring off Sam and quickly put it around his own neck again.

"You must understand," Frodo said "The ring is my burden. It will destroy you Sam."

Sam looked at Frodo and for a moment there was silence until Sam seemed to shrug it off just like nothing had happened at all.

"Come on Mr. Frodo. We best find you some clothes. You can't walk through Mordor in naught but your skin."

At that comment, Laura couldn't help but to grin a little. Frodo got back up on his feet and eventually they found some clothes but just as they started heading out of the tower, Laura suddenly stopped. She couldn't explain it, but there was a feeling in her, something that told her that something had happened. She shivered, hoping it was just her own paranoia.

"Laura, what is it?" Frodo asked worriedly

Laura snapped out of her thoughts and turned around to her two friends waiting for her by the stairs.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." she told them.

But something inside her, something more than instinct, told her that something was wrong.

**XXXXXXX**

"Frodo has passed beyond my sight. The darkness is deepening."

"Well that's comforting," Felix muttered quietly under his breath. They were all gathered in the throne room for a meeting, to decide what their next move was going to be. Felix's thoughts were scattered and he found it hard to concentrate. Most of his thoughts were still with Riley and trying to cope with the fact that his best friend was dead. At the same time he was so worried about Laura out there with Frodo and Sam that he wasn't sure what to do with it. Then there was Eowyn who was still being treated for her wounds even though they were healing well.

"If Sauron had the ring we would know it," Aragorn said, his voice was less worried than Gandalf's. In fact, it worried Maggie a little that the wizard seemed afraid.

"It's only a matter of time," Gandalf continued "Sauron may have suffered a defeat but behind the gates of Mordor the enemy is regrouping."

"Let him stay there," Gimli said "Let him rot! Why should we care?"

"Because 10,000 orcs now stand between Frodo and Mount Doom; I've sent him to his death."

"That still doesn't mean we should just give up though," Felix told them. "We've come too damn far to stop fighting. Frodo, Sam and Laura are still out there, we can't give up on them. If we give up now we give Sauron what we want and we give up on Frodo. We give up on those who fought with us and those we're fighting for. If we stop fighting it means Riley died for nothing."

There was silence for a while but nobody could deny that Felix had a point. They had sacrificed too much to let Sauron win when Frodo was so close to Mount Doom.

"Felix is right," It was Aragorn who broke the silence. "There is still hope for Frodo. He needs time and safe passage across the plains of Gorgoroth. We can give him that." he told them

"How?" Gimli asked sceptically as he kept smoking his pipe

"Draw out Sauron's armies. Empty his lands. Then we gather our full strength and march on the Black Gate." Maggie, Felix and Nat exchanged glances. None of them were sure what they thought about this plan but it was a plan and at the moment it was all they had.

"We can give Frodo his chance if we keep Sauron's eyes fixed on us. Keep him blind to all else that move."

Up until now, Legolas had been silence but Maggie saw a slight grin of approval on his face as Aragorn's plan became clear. "A diversion." said the elf.

Maggie had been stood leaning against the wall but she let out a heavy sigh and sank down to the ground.

"Maggie, if you don't feel up to this, nobody will blame you. I mean, for god's sake, you've still only recently given birth." Nat said as she leaned against Eomer who wrapped his arms around her.

"No," Maggie shook her head "I'm going to do this. I _need_ to this. It's what Riley would have wanted and I will be _damned_ if anyone tries to convince me otherwise."

Nobody argued.

"Well then," said Gimli "Certainty of death. Small chance of success; what are we waiting for?"

**XXXXXXX**

Shortly after the meeting when they had all split up to prepare themselves, Maggie heard sobbing and when she got to the bottom of the stairs, she saw Pippin sitting leaned against the wall crying. Maggie had been too busy to deal with her own emotion she hadn't even consider how Merry and Pippin must be feeling about Riley's death. After all, the three of them had been through a lot together ever since the breaking of the fellowship and they must've become very close. In fact, Maggie knew they had.

"Pippin? Are you alright?" The young Took dried his tears when Maggie came to sit down next to him.

"He saved us," Pippin said quietly "After we left Lorien. He stayed with us. He didn't have to but he did it anyway. He was our friend. It just doesn't seem fair."

"Oh Pippin," Maggie found herself crying again and it seemed like there was no end to the tears. "It isn't fair but all we can do is to take comfort in knowing that he is in a better place now. That he's at peace. And that he died fighting for what he believed in."

"Aye," said Pippin "And that means we can fight for him now doesn't it?"

Maggie couldn't help but to smile because Pippin was right. They were going to fight for him.

**XXXXXXX**

"So, you and Eowyn huh? How does that feel?" Nat and Felix were standing in the stables, saddling their horses and getting ready to march for the black gate.

"Pretty amazing; I mean, _she's_ amazing." Felix replied. He'd been to check up on her just earlier to make sure she was alright and so that he wouldn't have to worry about her.

"I know what you mean; I feel the same way about Eomer. I still can't quite believe it, I feel really lucky and at the same time it's really scary because some part of me fears that this all some dream that I'm just going to wake up from and he won't be there."

Felix reached out for Nat's hand and then pulled his friend in for a hug.

"God we've been through a lot haven't we?" she said

"Yeah, and it's not over yet."

**XXXXXXX**

"Look! The orcs! They're moving off!" Laura realised Sam was right and it made her wonder why because they were marching off in an entirely different direction.

"You see Mr. Frodo! Some luck at last." Of course Sam had spoken too soon because only mere moments afterwards they heard footsteps marching towards them and they saw a long line of orcs marching to obviously join the others. Luckily enough Frodo, Sam and Laura were all dressed in armour and managed to sneak into the army unnoticed and when they chance came they found a passageway up the mountain and managed to climb up without being seen.

"Frodo!" Laura turned around to Frodo who was struggling to climb up and the look of exhaustion mixed hopelessness as well as fear devastated Laura.

"I can't…" Frodo was struggling to find words "I can't manage to ring."

It made sense in a way, Laura thought. The closer they got to Mount Doom the heaver the ring became.

"Here, take mine," Sam offered Frodo his leather pouch with water "There's a few drops left." Frodo grasped it and swallowed the last few drops and then he turned around to Sam and Laura

"There'll be none left for the return journey." he said

"I don't think there will be a return journey." Sam said. Laura hardly believe what she was hearing. Sam had been the one staying positive all the way through. Nobody replied to that but they were all thinking the same thing. Sam reached out his hand and Frodo grabbed it, collecting the last bit of strength he had left.

**XXXXXXX**

It didn't take long before they were all ready and marched to the Black Gate with what was left of their own army. Maggie looked up at the Black Gate and found herself a little overwhelmed; it was massive and intimidating. At the same time she found it hard to believe that this gate was the only thing separating them from Mordor.

"Let the Lord of the Black Lands come forth! Let justice be done upon him!" Aragorn cried out. As soon as Aragorn had spoken, the gate slowly creaked and opened. Maggie, Nat and Felix all shivered when they realised who the rider sent out to them was.

"My Master, Sauron the Great bids thee welcome. Is there any in this rout with authority to treat me?" hissed the Voice of Sauron

"We do not come to treat with Sauron, faithless and accursed!" Gandalf told him "Tell your Master this. The armies of Mordor must disband. He is to depart this land never to return. "

The rider only hissed and let out a sly sort of laughter. "Old Greybeard; I have a token to show thee." He reached into his pockets and got out Mithril, the golden shirt Frodo had inherited from Bilbo. Maggie turned to Gandalf and saw that the wizard was trying to remain calm.

"Frodo!" Merry cried out

"Silence!" Gandalf told them

"The Halfling was dear to thee I see. Know that he suffered greatly in the hands of our host." Hissed the Voice and laughed again "Who would have thought one so small could endure so much pain."

"He's lying." Maggie said "Aragorn. Frodo's alive. They all are. He's trying to scare us."

Aragorn looked at Maggie and then rode forward.

"And who is this? Isildur's heir? It takes more than an elvish blade to—" the sentence never got finished because Aragorn cut off his head without a second's warning and it made everyone jump. The gate opened again and they rode back to the rest of the army.

"Sons of Rohan! Sons of Gondor! My brothers!" Aragorn shouted. The marching footsteps of the orcs came closer but that didn't seem to bother him in the least. "I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break _all bonds of fellowship_. But it is not this day! An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the age of Men come crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth…"

Aragorn looked right at Maggie and she knew what he meant. "I bid you stand, Men of the West!" Sauron's army, which was far greater than theirs was circling them and only then did Nat realise how incredibly, ridiculously outnumbered they were.

"I never thought I'd die fighting side by side with an Elf," Gimli said and Nat could swear she heard him trying to hold back his tears

Legolas grinned "How about side by side with a friend?" he asked

"Aye," Gimli nodded "I could do that."

"That me cry every single bloody time." Nat whispered to Felix and Maggie

They stood there, what was left of the fellowship

"For Frodo." Aragorn told them

"For Laura." Nat said

"For Riley." Maggie added

And then they charged forward, to the last and final battle.

**_To be continued…._**

* * *

**_So that was a longer chapter than I expected it would be but hopefully you liked it! Please review and let me know what you thought! _**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my own characters.

**A/N: **Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for all the lovely reviews! There's really not much left to say so here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

**_Twenty-Five_**

**XXXXXXX**

"Look Mr Frodo, a doorway." Laura could hardly believe her eyes; they were standing by the entrance to Mount Doom. It was getting so hot she was struggling to breathe and the climb up the mountain had been difficult. She looked at Sam who was carrying Frodo on his shoulders and she hoped that they would make it in time. Looking up at the mountain, Laura suddenly felt very small not only because it was intimidating but because she was aware of the power within it. When Laura turned to Sam she saw his eyes widened and he called out to her.

"LAURA!" Before Laura was able to react, Gollum had grabbed her ankle and pulled her down. She cursed loudly and tried grabbing Gollum but he leapt onto Sam and pulled Frodo off his shoulder.

"Mustn't go that way," Gollum hissed

"No!" Frodo shouted as she pushed Gollum off him and Laura watched as Gollum got back up onto his feet and headed back to Frodo when Sam suddenly rushed forward and attacked him.

"SAM!"

"Go after Frodo!" Sam told her

Frodo was running towards the entrance and Laura ran after him.

**XXXXXXX**

The battle seemed to never end and it didn't matter how many orcs Felix killed, more kept on coming. He was exhausted in so many ways but he still kept going and he wouldn't give up even if it killed him. Felix heard his friends around him and saw Maggie in the corner of his eyes fighting for what her life was worth. All those months ago, on that rainy night in London, there was no way he would have thought this is where he'd end up. On a battlefield in Middle-Earth fighting for what he believed in and the people he loved.

Fighting for Riley and fighting Eowyn.

Suddenly Felix heard a shrill cry in the air that he recognised all too well.

"Great, just what we need. Nazguls." Felix saw the Nazguls flying closer towards them but then something happened that he hadn't expected. Almost from out of nowhere, an eagle came and put his claws right into the Nazguls. Felix turned around to Gandalf and saw the wizard grinning.

"Eagles!" Pippin shouted "The eagles are coming!"

Hope was still on their side.

**XXXXXXX**

"I'm here Laura." Frodo stood at the very edge of mount doom, looking right into the fires below him. Laura saw him holding the ring in his hand, playing with it.

"Destroy it!" Sam had caught up with them and stood next to Laura. She could see he was bleeding from his fight with Gollum but that didn't seem to bother him in the least. Frodo held out the ring right over the edge and Laura felt her heart beating so fast she could swear it was going to leap right out of her chest. Laura couldn't tell how long they'd been standing there because it felt like time ceased to exist. But Frodo never let go of the ring; instead, he turned around to Sam and Laura and said the unthinkable.

"No. The ring is mine" said the hobbit

Tears began streaming down Laura's eyes and she didn't know what to do. She just knew that they couldn't let Frodo do this.

"Frodo you can't do this! You can't keep the ring! Not after all we've been fighting for! You need to throw it into the fire!" she shouted

Frodo didn't reply. Instead he took the ring off the chain, put it on his finger and disappeared.

"NOOOOOO!" The look of complete and utter devastation in Sam's eyes broke Laura's heart more than anything. All this way and then this. She didn't want to believe it. Even though she couldn't see Frodo, Laura could still hear his footsteps around him and tried to follow the sound until she turned around and saw Sam lying on unconscious on the ground and saw Gollum looking up at her. For a moment she thought he was going to attack her but instead he headed straight for the edge of the mountain and jumped on what Laura assumed was the invisible Frodo and then bit him.

**XXXXXXX**

"Eomer behind you!" Nat's warning allowed Eomer to quickly duck and then cut the head off the rather large orc that had tried aiming for him.

"How many times have you saved my life?" he asked Nat as he looked at her

"Probably about as many as you've saved mine. Don't worry about it." she replied

In the middle of it all, Eomer grabbed hold of Nat and pulled her in for a kiss which when they broke it off, left her just staring at him.

"I want to marry you." He told her

"I don't think we have time for marriage now." By now, three orcs were already dead by Eomer's sword and two by Nat's.

"After all this." Eomer said. Yet another orc dead. "Will you be my wife?"

"For god's sake Nat, you love him! Say yes and then get on with the fighting because no pressure or anything but it's getting just a tad crowded here!" Felix shouted not too far away

"Yes, I'll marry you." Nat said. In all honesty, it wasn't as if she had to think about it at all. It had just caught her off guard. A massive smile lit up on Eomer's face and he kissed her again quickly.

**XXXXXXX**

Laura felt as if her world was falling apart. She saw Gollum holding the ring in his hands, dancing around with it as if nothing could take it away from him. She knelt down next to the unconscious Sam and desperately tried waking him up and at the same time she saw Frodo getting back up onto his feet, walking towards Gollum.

"Sam, wake up!" Laura nudged Sam and eventually the hobbit opened his and looked at Laura, slightly dazed and confused. Laura didn't say anything but she didn't have to, Sam could see for himself. Frodo and Gollum were both fighting for the ring and then, to both Sam and Laura's horror, they both fell over the edge. Sam shot up and both him and Laura ran to the edge. Frodo was still holding on but Laura was never going to be able to forget the sight in front of her. Gollum was slowly disintegrating in front of her and when he was gone the ring remained in the fire for a few mere moments until it eventually melted away into the fire it had been made from.

The ring was destroyed.

**XXXXXXX**

Maggie didn't know what had happened at first. The sonic boom knocked her and everybody else off their feet and caused a massive rift in the ground which became the death of a majority of the orcs. The Black Gate was destroyed and it was only when Maggie saw Sauron's tower falling and that the eye was gone that she realised that Frodo must have done it. The ring was the destroyed. She heard Merry and Pippin cheering loudly but the cheering stopped when they all realised that Mount Doom was falling apart in front of their eyes and that their friends were still up there.

"…Laura."

Maggie, Nat and Felix looked at each other, all of them thinking the same thing.

**XXXXXXX**

"I never thought this was how I would die." Laura hardly dared looking at the flowing lava around them. It all seemed a bit too surreal but she was starting to accept the fact that this was it. They lay there, all three of them on the rock and Laura felt Frodo taking her hand and looked at her with a smile. It was the kind of smile she hadn't seen on him in a very long time.

"I can see the Shire," he told them "Brandywine River. Bag End. Gandalf's Fireworks." Laura could see it too and she wished that she would have had a chance to see it herself; the home that the Hobbits spoke about so dearly. It was strange, Laura thought, because even though she could see her home too she felt like her family was still here. The Fellowship had become her family.

"Rosie Cotton dancing. She had ribbons in her hair." Sam said "If ever I was to marry someone, it would have been her. It would have been her." he was sobbing now and as was Laura. Frodo put his arms around his friend.

"I'm glad to be with you Samwise Gamgee and you Laura; here at the end of all things."

_So am I, _Laura thought, _so am I. _Laura closed her eyes and felt herself drifting off to some kind of restless sleep and in the distances, she thought she could hear the sounds of birds crying.

**XXXXXXX**

_Laura didn't know where she was but she knew it had to be a dream. She could tell because her surrounding were sort of white and foggy and very Harry Potter. It was like she was at the bit of the Deathly Hallows when Harry meets Dumbledore on Platform 9 ¾. Except, it wasn't Dumbledore standing in front of her, it was Riley. Laura knew then that she must have been right back in Mordor and known that something had happened. _

_"Riley? Oh god, you're…" _

_"Dead? Yeah, I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Riley told her. Strangely, Laura didn't feel sad because by seeing Riley, she knew that he was alright, that he was in peace. _

_"Am I dead?" she asked _

_Riley shook his head "No, you're not dead. You have so much to live for and your future is full of so many good things. Besides, there's a man who's dying to see you again." _

_Laura didn't have to guess twice about who Riley meant. "So, what _am_ I doing here?" she asked _

_Riley went to sit next to her and when Laura looked at him his face fell a little. _

_"I need you to tell Maggie not to blame herself. She needs to know that none of this was her fault. This was always meant to happen; this was always meant to be my fate." _

_"Why can't you tell her?" Laura asked _

_"If I come to her, if she sees me, she'll never be able to let me go. You know how she is, she lingers and it would eat her up. I would never be able to forgive myself. I know you're all hurting and I am so sorry for leaving you but this is how it has to be. The world goes on and I'll still be there, looking over you. I'll never really leave. I love all of you. Make sure they know?" _

_Even though it hurt, Laura knew that Riley was right. She nodded and Riley smiled at her as he pulled her in for a long hug. _

_"I'm never going to see you like this again am I?" Laura asked _

_Riley grinned, that same mischievous grin he always had when he was up to something. "Oh, you never really know what might happen." _

_And before Laura knew it, everything faded out and Riley was gone again. _

**XXXXXXX**

"Look at this little guy; he is so adorable it's unreal."

"Be careful Mags, you may never get your son off Nat."

"I don't know, a babysitter might be useful every now and then." Laura woke up to the sound of three very familiar voices speaking and when she opened her eyes she saw Nat, Felix and Maggie sat around her bed. Nat was holding a very small baby in her arms and Laura could only assume that this was Maggie and Elrond's son.

"OH MY GOD! You're awake!" Maggie and Felix practically threw themselves on Laura when they realise she was no longer unconscious and Nat laughed.

"Can't…breathe."

"Sorry." Felix apologised as they got off her but Laura smiled.

"I'm so glad to see you guys again," she told them. Nat gave Caspian back to Maggie and then gave Laura an equally long hug.

"Felix, are you crying?" Maggie asked

Felix dried away his tears. "It's just been a long time since all of us have been together." he said

"Yeah, not all of us." And then it hit Maggie that Laura was the only one who didn't know and that they would have to tell her about Riley. "Oh god Laura…you don't know."

"That Riley's dead?" she said "I already know." The other three looked at her with puzzled expressions because they couldn't understand how she could possibly have known.

"How…?" Felix asked

"I know this is going to sound crazy but I saw him. When I was unconscious, he came to me in a sort of a vision, I guess. He, uhm, he actually had a message for you Maggie."

"What did he say?" Maggie asked

"He wants you to know that he's at peace, that's he's happy and that you can't blame yourself for what happened because it was always meant to happen and that it wasn't your fault. He loves you, all of us and he wants us to know that he'll always be looking out for us."

Maggie was crying again and she wasn't sure what to feel. As far as visions were concerned, she didn't think it sounded crazy at all because she remembered back when she had first met Elrond in Rivendell the vision she had from Celebrian.

"I miss him." Nat whispered. It felt so empty, not to have Riley there.

"We all do," Felix said "I don't think that will ever go away. I don't think it's meant to."

"I'm sorry," Laura said "God I feel like I've missed so much."

"Speaking of missing, we all better hurry. After all, there's a coronation we don't want to miss." Felix said

Laura had almost forgotten about that. Aragorn was going to be crowned king.

**XXXXXXX**

Minas Tirith had never been so alive before. There was a sense of serenity in the air Nat hadn't seen anywhere and it was amazing. The courtyard was packed and at the very front, Aragorn was kneeling down in front of Gandalf who put the crown on his head.

"Now come the days of the King!" Gandalf called out "May they be blessed."

"This day does not belong to one man but to all," Aragorn said "Let us together rebuild this world that we may share in the days of peace."

People cheered and applauded and Aragorn walked up greet Legolas and the other Mirkwood elves who had come to join the celebration. Legolas briefly turned to Maggie and smile and she knew exactly what that smile meant.

"He has no idea does he?" Felix whispered so that only Maggie could hear.

Maggie grinned and shook her head "None at all."

Legolas stepped aside and it took Aragorn a few moments until he realised that Arwen was standing in front of him. She was dressed beautifully in a green dress and with a crown that made it look like there were stars in her hair. Maggie could swear she saw Elrond crying as she gave his daughter away to her husband. When they finally embraced in a kiss, everyone cheered again and Maggie was glad to finally see them reunited. Together, they walked down the aisle and as they did everyone bowed or curtseyed in turn and when they walked up to the four hobbits, they did the same.

"My friends," Aragorn said "You bow to no one." Aragorn and Arwen bowed and as did every single other person around them. Frodo, Pippin, Sam and Merry all seem to be so flustered by it all that Maggie couldn't help but to smile. Then Aragorn walked up to Maggie, Felix, Nat and Laura. He took Maggie's hand and looked at her and she couldn't believe that she was the man who had once been little Estel, grow up to be king.

"And you four," he told them "I owe you my life."

**_To Be Continued…_**

* * *

**_What did you think of that? It's not over just yet! There's at least three more chapters to go and the next one will be up right away because it's already written! Please review! _**


	26. Goodbye

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything except my characters. The song at the end belongs to Faith Hill.

**A/N**: I've had this chapter written for quite some time and I've been stupidly emotional over it. Mainly because I've had these characters, this group in my head for a really long while and this fic has been the story I've been writing on whenever I've had a bad day or something like it. So having them saying goodbye to Riley will hopefully bring out the same feelings in you guys that it did me. So here it is; Riley's funeral.

**_Twenty-Six_**

_Goodbye _

**XXXXXXX**

"Caspian, dear one, little one. You are so very loved." Maggie whispered as her son grasped hold of her finger. He stretched a yawn and she started singing him a lullaby. _"Lay down your head and I'll sing you a lullaby. And I'll sing you to sleep and I'll sing you tomorrow. Bless you with love for the road that you go." _She picked Caspian up in her arms and rocked him back and forth. She wished Riley could have been there when he'd been born and she wished that he was there to see him now. "_May you self fare to the far fields of fortune. With diamonds and pearls at your head and your feet. And may you need never to banish misfortune. May you find kindness in all that you meet. May there always be angels to watch over you. To guide you each step of the way. To guide you and keep you safe from all harm."_ Eventually, Caspian fell asleep in her arms and Maggie tucked her son to sleep in his little cradle and stood by him and continued humming the tune. She felt Elrond putting his arms around her waist as she let tears streaming down her eyes.

"Maggie; it's time." Elrond told her.

"No." Maggie whispered "I'm not going."

"Why not?"

"Because if I go it means I'm really saying goodbye to him. I miss him so much; I can't believe he's really gone." Aragorn's coronation had been two days ago and Maggie knew that this day was going to come eventually, but she had sort of put it out of her mind anyway. Even though Maggie knew that Riley truly was dead and that there was no way of bringing back, she didn't want to go to the funeral. A part of her couldn't help but to feel a little guilty because she had dreamt about it. Before Caspian was born, she'd had that dream in Edoras and she'd known. She just hadn't wanted to believe it. In a way, she could understand why Riley had chose to come to Laura but still Maggie couldn't help but to wonder that if she had believed maybe she could have done something and then maybe Riley would be alive now.

"Oh my love." Elrond pulled Maggie in for a hug. He knew very well what it was like to grieve the loss of someone you loved. It was never easy. It pained him to see Maggie in so much sorrow and he wished there was something he could do to ease her suffering.

**XXXXXXX**

Felix hadn't slept at all that night; he'd spent countless hours tossing and turning trying to process everything but he just couldn't. His best friend had died in battle while he was still alive and breathing. It wasn't fair and Felix wasn't sure he was ever going to be able to understand or comprehend it. If there truly were gods then why were they so cruel? The worst part about it all was that in all this Felix was still angry with Riley. He could still remember the first time they'd met way back when they had been children. They'd been through so many things together and shared so many memories and it made it all hurt so much more.

"Why did you have to leave us you silly sod?" he mumbled to himself as he ran his hand through his hair. It was in the early hours of morning and the first rays of sunshine were shining through the window of his and Eowyn's bedroom.

"God dammit!" he cursed a little louder than he'd intended.

"It's okay to cry Felix." Eowyn told him as she wrapped her arms around her lover and kissed his shoulder. She knew what he was going through because she was still processing the lost of her uncle.

"He was my best friend." Felix said "God, he was so stupid." He hugged Eowyn tightly and breathed heavily, realising how close the funeral was and how much he was not looking forward to it.

**XXXXXXX**

"Are you ready?" Eomer asked as he walked into the room to check on how Nat was doing. Riley's funeral was less than half an hour away and Nat wasn't sure she was going to be able to deal with it. They had been together for a long time the five of them, not just in Middle-Earth but back in their world they had all been really close and they were as much family to Nat as her parents and siblings were. Losing Riley felt very much like losing a brother and Nat didn't want to say goodbye to him.

"No." Nat turned around to Eomer "But I don't have much of a choice do I? God, I can't even begin to think what Maggie must be going through. He was our friend but he was her cousin. How do you get over that?"

"By being there for her." Eomer replied as he took Nat's hand in his. "Like I will always be here for you."

**XXXXXXX**

"Faramir, I'm sorry I didn't realise you were there." Laura had been in her own world when she had always bumped into Faramir. When Faramir looked at her, he could tell that she had been crying; but then again that was only to be expected. After all, she had lost a close friend and that was never something easy to deal with. Faramir knew because in one way or another, they had all suffered losses in the war. His being Boromir and his father.

"I apologise, I didn't mean to scare you." Faramir said "I was just coming to see how you were. Well, actually I was wondering if I could walk you to the funeral."

Laura nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that."

They walked in silence through the city and there was a strange feeling in the air; like the whole of Minas Tirith was mourning. Laura felt like she had a lump in her stomach that just hurt constantly and she wasn't sure she would ever get rid of it.

"Your friends," Faramir said after a while "They're all staying here in Middle-Earth?"

"Yeah. I mean, Maggie has the baby and she's marrying Elrond. Felix and Nat are both staying in Rohan with Eowyn and Eomer." Laura replied, she wasn't sure what kind of conversation she had been expecting but it wasn't that and she wasn't quite sure where Faramir was heading with it.

"What about you?" Faramir asked "What will you do?"

"I don't know, I don't exactly have anywhere to go." Laura hadn't thought much about it but now that Faramir mentioned it was damned good question that she would have to deal with sooner or later. "I don't have anyone like they do."

"You, uhm, you could always stay here. In Minas Tirith; with me. I mean, only if you want to. I understand if you'd rather be with your friends because—" Laura shut Faramir up with a kiss and he pulled her close to him. She didn't really know what had come over her but she felt like if she didn't let him know how she felt about her in some way, then he might never know.

"Shall I take that as a yes then?" Faramir asked and Laura could swear he was blushing a little.

"Yes, I would like nothing more than to stay with you." she told him

**XXXXXXX**

The funeral was both awful and absolutely beautiful at the same time. Maggie couldn't tell how many people had gathered but it felt like all of Minas Tirith was there. Elladan and Elrohir had come from Rivendell to be at the funeral. Each member of the Fellowship had said something about Riley, including Elladan and Elrohir who were there for the funeral as well but it was when it came to Merry and Pippin that Maggie couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Riley's body was rested on a neatly stacked pile of wood in the middle of the courtyard in Minas Tirith. Each of the fourteen members of the fellowship were handed torches with which the set fire to wood. They stood there, all four of them; Maggie, Nat, Felix and Laura, saying goodbye to their friend as his ashes spread with the wind.

"You know, Riley wouldn't have wanted to us to be sad and cry about his death. Hell, he'd have wanted us to bring the house down." Felix said as he sat down next Nat. It was later that night and they were all sat in the great hall. It was good in a way, to have all of the gathered in the same place after all they had been through. It made Maggie realise how much of a family they had all become and created bonds that no one would ever be able to break.

"You're right Felix," Elladan agreed "Besides, we're all traveling to Rivendell tomorrow; for the wedding. We should be celebrating." Maggie couldn't help but to smile as she realised they were right and that that's exactly what Riley would have wanted. There had been so much going on that she'd hardly had time to think about the wedding and suddenly it was coming up really quickly.

Elrohir raised his jug in the air. "To Riley; there was no braver man, truer friend or more loyal brother. May he be at peace."

"To Riley!" they all said

_When I think back on the times and the dreams we left behind_

_I was glad 'cause I was blessed to get to have you in my life_

_When I look back on these days I look and see your face_

_You were right there for me_

_In my dreams I'll always see you sore above the sky_

_In my heart there'll always be a place for you for all my life_

_I'll keep a part of you with me and everywhere I am there you'll be_

_Will you show me how it feels to feel the sky within my reach_

_And I always will remember all the strength you gave to me_

_Your love made make it through oh I owe so much to you_

_You were right there for me_

_In my dreams I'll always see you sore above the sky_

_In my heart there'll always be a place for you for all my life_

_I'll keep a part of you with me and everywhere I am there you'll be_

_'Cause I always saw in you my light my strength_

_And I want to thank you now for all the ways_

_You were right there for me_

_You were right there for me_

_Always_

_In my dreams I'll always see you sore above the sky_

_In my heart there'll always be a place for you for all my life_

_I'll keep a part of you with me and everywhere I am there you'll be_

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

**_ Only two more chapters to go now! Review please? _**


	27. Wedding Bells!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my characters.

**A/N: **Oh my goodness, so many updates in a row? Yeah, I know, I've had so many plans for these last chapters and I just kind of want to give them to you. Anyway, you'll like this chapter (I hope) even though it's a pretty short one compared to the others but here it is! Enjoy!

**_Twenty-Seven _**

_Wedding Bells! _

**XXXXXXX **

Maggie was nervous. In fact, she was beyond nervous. She was getting married in half an hour and she had so many thoughts going through her mind that she didn't know where to put them. She was going to marry Elrond, the father of their child and the love of her life. It made sense for the wedding to be held in Rivendell; not only because it was their home but because in many ways it was in Rivendell where it had all begun.

"Maggie, breathe, you'll be fine." Laura said "And also, once Elrond sees you in that dress, I can guarantee you that it's not gonna stay on for very long."

They all giggled and Maggie blushed a little. Nat reached into the pocket of her old bag and got out Felix's phone he'd put in there way back at the beginning of the question.

"Oh my god! I can't believe we still have this thing! Does it have batteries?" All three girls screamed loudly and joyfully when they realised the phone did have batteries and their scream could probably be heard from miles away. Nat searched through the playlist until she found the perfect song for the occasion. Miley Cyrus's 'Party in the USA' blasted through the speakers of the phone and three very happy girls were dancing around in the Maggie's room until they heard a knock on the door.

"Ahem," Aragorn said as grinned at them "You look beautiful, are you ready?"

Maggie breathed heavily and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

**XXXXXXX **

It was a beautiful wedding that took place in the Rivendell gardens. Aragorn gave Maggie away to Elrond and Gandalf was holding the ceremony. When Elrond saw Maggie he felt the same kind of happiness and love for her just like the first time he met her. He couldn't think of anyone else he would spend his life with and he knew that she was happy there and that she was happy with him.

"I give you the Lord and Lady of Rivendell – may you live out your days in love and in peace." Maggie put her arms around Elrond and he pulled her in for a long, deep and passionate kiss and as they kissed Maggie felt him smiling and as did she.

"Gimli, are you crying?" Nat asked

Gimli quickly dried his tears away. "I can't help it; us dwarves are very sentimental around weddings."

"Oh mate; you're not the only one." Felix said. He wasn't even trying to hide his tears and Eowyn just laughed.

**XXXXXXX **

The party afterwards was one that would be remembered for many years ahead. It featured singing and dancing by the hobbits, Felix and even some by Gandalf himself (which was a sight nobody would forget) and there was laughing. Even though the party itself continued on until the early hours of morning, Maggie and Elrond slipped away earlier to their bedroom which was decorated with candles and flowers. Elrond picked Maggie up in his arms and carried her to the bed.

"I love you," Maggie told him "I love you so much and I want to have more children with you."

"Well," Elrond traced his hands through Maggie's hair and mumbled in her ear "That can definitely be arranged."

Elrond kissed her again, more deeply this time and they made love through the night.

_I can't believe this moment's come  
It's so incredible that we're alone  
There's so much to be said and done  
It's impossible not to be overcome  
Will you forgive me if I feel this way  
Cuz we've just met - tell me that's OK  
So take this feeling and make it grow  
Never let it - never let it go  
(Don't let go of the things you believe in)  
You give me something that I can believe in  
(Don't let go of this moment in time)  
Go of this moment in time  
(Don't let go of things that you're feeling)  
I can't explain the things that I'm feeling  
(Don't let go)  
No, I won't let go_

Now would you mind if I bared my soul  
If I came right out and said you're beautiful  
Cuz there's something here I can't explain  
I feel I'm diving into driving rain  
You get my senses running wild  
I can't resist your sweet, sweet smile  
So take this feeling and make it grow  
Never let it - never let it go

I've been waiting all my life  
To make this moment feel so right  
The feel of you just fills the night  
So c'mon - just hold on tight

**_To be continued…._**

**_ One more chapter to go! I know this was a relatively short one but I hope you like it anyway! Review please!_**


	28. Home

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything except my characters.

**A/N: **So many updates in a row! But anyway, here we are – the last one. Massive, massive thank you to all of you for sticking with this story for so long and thank you for all the reviews! There's not really much to say about it all, except I hope you'll enjoy it!

**_Twenty-Eight _**

_Home _

**XXXXXXX**

"Are you certain this is your choice? To stay? I will not be able to send you back once you have decided." Gandalf looked at each of them in turn but all for them had made up their minds a long time ago that staying in Middle-Earth was their only choice. It was their home now in a way they couldn't explain. Felix hoped now that there was peace, he would have time to properly explore that land he'd dreamt of seeing sine childhood. A part of him couldn't help but to wonder what Tolkien would have thought about all of this, if he had any idea. If anything, it was a fun thought to play around with.

"We're sure," Nat replied and the wizard only nodded with a smile on his face.

"It's been quite some journey, for all of you. You've all been through something rather extraordinary and whether you see it or not all of you have changed." Gandalf told them "I for one, am proud to call you my friends."

Gandalf was right of course, they had all changed so much since the beginning of the quest and it was hard to believe it had been such a long time ago.

"You must come visit the Shire," said Frodo as he hugged Laura. Saying goodbye to all of them was hard for Laura but it was especially to say goodbye to Sam and Frodo. They had become two of her closest friends.

"Of course I will," Laura replied "After all, Sam has wedding invitations to send out once he asks Rosie to marry him." Laura turned around to Sam. "You will ask her right?" she said with a smile as she hugged him as well. Sam nodded and quickly dried away his tears. Nobody back in the Shire would ever believe the things they had been through and that they were such good friends with the 'big folk'. It was a beautiful early spring day. The air was crisp and clear and the sun was shining. It felt a bit like a sign that things were good now and that it was the start of something new.

Aragorn took little Caspian in his arms and whispered a blessing to him in Elvish before he kissed his forehead and gave him back to his mother.

"You'll always have a home in Minas Tirith and you're always welcome." Aragorn told Maggie.

"Also, I'll be there so you better visit." Laura said "All of you."

"Yeah, you'll be stuck with her now, good luck with that." Maggie joked and Laura stuck out her tongue. Felix rolled his eyes and thought some things would never change.

"Lady of Rivendell huh? Trust you to become a queen." Felix teased

"Trust you to fall in love with one," Maggie replied with a smile referring to Eowyn would be crowned Queen of Rohan once they got back. After all, it had been Théoden's wish that she would rule once he had passed. It took quite a long while to say goodbye to everyone. Promises were made to visit and to stay in touch. They all wanted to see the Shire and some point and now that they were staying, it was definitely a possibility. As Maggie, Laura, Nat and Felix all looked at each other, none of them had to say it, but they knew and they could all feel that Riley was right there with them. Just like he said he would be. They all hugged for a long time, neither of them saying much but then again, words weren't needed.

"Goodbye, my dear Margaret and Prince Caspian." said Gandalf

"_Namarie_," Elrond told them all "May your journey back be safe." Eventually they all set off from Rivendell and Maggie watched them until they were out of sight. She sighed, relieved and felt Elrond put an arm around her.

"Are you alright?" he asked her

Maggie nodded. "Yeah, I am"

"Let's go home _melemin_,"

Home. It was good, Maggie thought, to be finally be home.

**_The End_**

* * *

**_So there we are. The end. Like Gandalf said, it's been quite some journey and I'm sad to see the end of this fic. Thank you all for reading and for reviewing, I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've had! _**

**_Sequel you ask? Well, there may be _**

**_Mwahahahahahahaha! Ahem *bows out* _**


End file.
